Charlton Athletic head coach Jose Riga says match-winner Callum Harriott “deserved” his first two league goals of the season against Watford because of his hard work in training.

The 19-year-old academy graduate scored twice in stylish fashion to help the Addicks secure their Championship status with a 3-1 victory over Beppe Sannino’s Hornets.

Speaking afterwards, Riga said that the Norbury-born wideman had worked hard since he was appointed last month.

“The main characteristic of Callum is even if sometimes he makes some bad choices during the game, he is working, and he wants to learn every time - that’s the best way to do it.

“Today he deserved it because, I repeat, he was always looking to improve, so I’m happy for him,” added Riga.

The Belgian believes Harriott has benefitted from the sheer volume of fixtures Charlton have had to play in the last two months due to their FA Cup run and a series of postponements.

“I think Callum has a lot of qualities; he is fast, he has some pace, he learns, he works hard and sometimes he just needs to be able to control his emotions,” explained Riga.

“He has learned a lot in the last two months because in this situation where you have to play a game every three days, in our situation, for a young player, you cannot learn more.”

After securing their Championship status for another season, the former Standard Liege boss said he was happy to have been given the responsibility.

“There are a lot of different emotions first of all when you take this responsibility and certainly with my personality you feel very responsible, so from day one I’m the same – I work hard to find solutions because I can do nothing alone.

“Hopefully I work in a very good club in terms of people, competence and structure,” continued Riga.

“Everything is in place and the result is the number of young players on the pitch doing well.”

Read a report from tonight's game here.