Manager Chris Davies praised Brandon Khela as his 10-man Birmingham side beat Charlton 1-0 at the Valley to reach the second round of the Carabao Cup.
A wonder strike by the 19-year-old was a fine way to win a game that saw Dion Sanderson sent off after 78 minutes for a second bookable offence.
Davies put the youngster in at left-back and felt the trust put in him paid off.
He said: “It was a hell of a goal to score, he’s played left-back today and he’s a right-footed central midfield player – to put someone there at such a young age shows the trust I have in him.
“To go on there to choose the moment to go into midfield and then to take a shot like that was brilliant.
“We showed a bit of everything, because we had to dig in with character at the end.”
Tyreece Campbell was guilty of a poor penalty after 12 minutes, when he aimed straight at goalkeeper Ryan Allsop.
The deciding goal – after 32 minutes – fell to Khela, who finished with a beautiful curled effort from over 20 yards out as he celebrates his first goal for the club.
Sanderson received a second booking at the end, leaving Charlton manager Nathan Jones to rue the fine margins.
He said: “Overall I’m disappointed because we’ve lost the game. For 30 minutes, we were truly outstanding.
“We missed a penalty and had a number of chances. It’s also the fine margins – they scored from distance with a goal that is thoroughly defendable.
“The only difference was the quality in the final third.”
