Brighton and Hove Albion went 1-0 down on Tuesday evening in the EFL Cup second round as we hosted Southampton at the Amex Stadium.
A late Charlie Austin goal in the 88th minute settled the tie that seemed set for penalties but both sides had numerous chances to take the win, even if in fairness Southampton edged it.
Manager Chris Hughton made ten changes to the side and gave competitive debuts to four players, Under 23 youngsters Ben Barclay, Will Collar and Viktor Gyokeres were joined by goalkeeper David Button. The game also saw Alireza Jahanbakhsh take in his first 90 minutes as he continues to adjust to life at the club.
Gyokeres was lively up front and found himself twice denied by the opposition goalkeeper, but Brighton fans were full of praise for Collar as he took to social media to celebrate his debut following the game.
Really proud moment for me last night making my debut. Shame about the result but a night I’ll never forget #bhafc 🔵⚪️ https://t.co/cWE7jQU2JV
— William Collar (@WillCollar97) August 29, 2018
Having put himself out there, fans were happy to respond with positive words for his own showing and it seems the youngsters on show were a great source for some positives even though we crash out of the domestic Cup.
Both you and Barclay both had decent debuts
— Henry (@GeddesChris) August 29, 2018
Really impressed with you lad, strong physically but quick also – can only get better when learning from @rosenior_liam23!
— Daniel-Jack Dixon (@DJDixon90) August 29, 2018
Really impressed me Will well played
— Matt Elliott (@mattyfatcat) August 29, 2018
You were great man, you’ll be getting more callups for the senior squad with performances like that ????
— Daniel Nutt (@thedannutt) August 29, 2018
Thought you did well. Keep up the hard work.
— Kevin McCann (@kmcca5) August 29, 2018
Don't worry, as you, Ben and Victor did very well. Shame those on bigger wages didn't all step up.
Good luck— Colin (@colin_gull) August 29, 2018
Hopefully, plenty more to come from all three.