Charsley had not kicked a competitive ball since January after an injury-plagued first season at Boundary Park, which resulted in hip surgery and a pre-season set-back in the summer, while Caprice has been recovering from a hamstring tear he suffered at Easter, which also required an operation.
But the pair made their comebacks against Manchester City Under 21s, playing the first 35 minutes in a line-up that looked totally different to the one that started against Fleetwood Town at the weekend.
And while the result was a disappointing one, with Latics losing 5-1 at home, Brabin was focused on the bigger picture, which also included a debut for 16-year-old scholar Oliver Howard.
"Me and Micky (Mellon) are bad losers so the score really hurts us, but we have to try to sift through that and we've got first team players coming back who needed minutes, we've got first team players who haven't had an opportunity to play the last few weeks and we're proud of our academy and we're building it back up again, and those first scholars who have signed contracts, most of them have been able to sit on the bench today and one has made his debut. That's a proud moment," said Latics' assistant boss.
Sixteen-year-old Oliver Howard made his debut for LaticsSixteen-year-old Oliver Howard made his debut for Latics (Image: Sean Walsh) "It's always disappointing when you get beat, it's not nice, but we had to use that game for our benefit and it was important that we got Jake Caprice 35 minutes and Harry Charsley 35 minutes. That was the plan before the game and we managed to do that.
"It was great to have them back and I thought we had a good shape about us. They started looking a bit tired and it was always the plan to give them 35 minutes.
"It wasn't ideal making the changes when we did and they (City) scored three goals in that nine-10 minutes after making the subs just before half-time. That did have a bit of an effect on the game but we knew what we needed from the game and we got that.
"We've been very careful how we've built them back up (to fitness) and everyone was comfortable with them playing 35 minutes. I think after 25 minutes the pair of them were absolutely knackered, but I think it will stand them in good stead and take it step by step."
And Brabin insists that, despite Latics' lengthy injury list, players would not be rushed back.
"We're certainly not going to be doing that," he said. "We won't be putting anyone at risk and we don't want to jump ahead of ourselves but they are in and around the squad now and we're going to build them up.
"We'll see how they react to playing in the game and see whether they can go on the bench in the next game and be of any service for us for 15-20 minutes if needed."