DAVID Lee praised the resilience of his Under-23s team as they saw off Charlton Athletic to qualify for the Development League play-off final.

Already champions of the North Section, Wanderers outclassed the Addicks to book a one-off game at Nottingham Forest on Friday night to establish the overall winners.

Wanderers have only twice won the title at ‘reserve’ level, lifting the Central League crown in 1955 and 1995.

And they despatched Charlton in style with goals from Jeff King, Dennis Politic and Liam Edwards in front of a larger-than-usual second-string crowd at the Macron.

Charlton briefly threatened a comeback after half time when Reeco Hackett-Fairchild pulled a goal back to make the scoreline 2-1. But Lee was impressed by how his side held together under the pressure and continued their exciting brand of football to seal the game.

“What was pleasing from my point of view was that we played some excellent football in the first half, had a real good tempo,” he told The Bolton News.

“The lads enjoy playing that type of game and they need to learn to play under a bit of pressure. They coped well.

“We knew there would be a backlash and they scored in the second half but I thought we were resolute.

“We have got pace in the team and the ability to score goals, so when you have the reassurance of Liam Edwards at the back, who has been great sweeping up and organising things for us, you can afford to play like that.

“We kept our confidence and discipline. we were worthy winners.”

Wanderers have used a raft of players at development level and once again had a trialist on show against Charlton as Tottenham’s Josh Pritchard started in midfield, putting in a composed performance.

The uncertainty over line-ups has made life slightly unpredictable for Lee and his core of players - but he says their application through the season has been everything he hoped.

“The team spirit, you can see yourself, is there for everyone to see,” he said. “The one thing I always emphasise to the players is that you have to desire and passion, attitude to want to play football. And these lads train every day at that kind of tempo, so it’s exactly how they go out on the pitch.

“If one gets hurt, they all get hurt. If one tackles, they all make a tackle. They are all individual lads but you have to get that bond throughout your players, have them fight for each other. Whatever goes on, you have to fight for each other.”