Cardiff City manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was keen to pay tribute to the fringe players in his squad after booking a place in the second round of the Capital One Cup on Wednesday night.
The Norwegian's decision to rotate his team was vindicated as goals from Guido Burgstaller and Kadeem Harris secured a 2-1 victory over Coventry City, and he believes that it was vital to give other players a chance to impress early in the season.
"We gave some young players a chance and others a chance, and I'm very pleased with their performance," Solskjaer told reporters.
"At this point of the season, we need to give the players match-time, and at this moment everyone needs games. We could have taken some of the lads off earlier, but we didn't have the game secure."
Cardiff will meet Port Vale in the second round of the competition.