Danny Cowley felt Colchester United were given "exactly the test we wanted" despite a 2-0 pre-season defeat to Championship side Charlton Athletic. The U's went behind to a Matty Godden header before conceding again to Karlan Grant's goal shortly after, but Cowley took positives from a demanding fixture against higher-league opposition. Cowley told Col U TV: "It was definitely the test that we thought we'd get and the test that we wanted. Our plan was to give us a real challenge in pre-season and we've certainly had some really tough games – West Ham and Norwich both behind closed doors, West Ham again, Peterborough, Charlton and then Stevenage, on Saturday. In Charlton, we played against a top Championship team with so much pace and athleticism and they play with so much energy and intensity. It was a really good test for us and some good learning that we took.