Brighton managed Chris Hughton has heaped praise on young match winner James Tilley following his first senior goal in the EFL Cup tie against Barnet.
Hosting the side at the Amex Stadium on Tuesday evening, Brighton took a one nil victory to book their place in the round three draw.
Hughton had given him his debut back in 2015, but coming off the bench at the half time break the 19 year old winger came on to good effect, winning the tie for us.
Speaking to the Official Site as he met with the media following the game, Hughton explained.
‘I`m really delighted for James Tilley, coming on and getting the goal. It`s certainly good for the club and the supporters as well. He`s a lad that`s come through the ranks here, and it`s all about development. There were a few scary moments down his flank in the last period, and that`s the other side of the game. He`s got wonderful ability and to reach the top levels that you want to, you`ve got to have that mixture in your game.’
As for the game itself, Hughton acknowledged our League Two opponents certainly made tough work of the day and he commended them for their hard working performance, but did feel on balance the right result was achieved.
‘It was certainly a tough game. We felt that we`d have a lot of possession, but they`re a very organised team, and I know they lost at the weekend, but they`ve started their own season very well. Their manager would be pleased with the effort they put in. They came here with a game plan and made it very difficult for us. We had huge possession in the game, but found it very difficult to break them down.’
He went on to add.
‘Once we did break them down, they had to come out a little bit and they showed what a threat they were. We had to defend very well, but we deservedly made it through and I`m looking forward to seeing who we get in the next round.’
With changes made and a number getting good game time such as Anthony Knockaert who made his first start of 2017/18, Hughton went on to say.
‘I`m pleased with the fact that they got 90 minutes. It was a good mixture between the experienced and young players. It was always the plan for him (Knockaert) to play 45 minutes and I`m glad that he got that under his belt. It was certainly a good test, because every time he got the ball, they were marking him very tightly. We`ve experienced the other side of these games, and we know that if you don’t apply yourselves correctly, you can lose. So I`m really pleased to have gone through.’
