Ruth: 'I couldn't have been happier with our response'

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Under-21s bounced back from a 6-0 defeat to take control of Group F in the Premier League Cup.

Luke Nicoli

2026-11-11T04:00+00:00

Head coach Shannon Ruth was pleased with the under-21s' response against Millwall. 📸 Simon Roe.

Shannon Ruth was delighted with the character shown by his side as Albion’s U21s beat Millwall 3-1 in the Premier League Cup last night.

The Seagulls came into the game on the back of a disappointing 6-0 defeat at Cambridge United last week, but they bounced back impressively at The Den to cement their place at the top of Group F.

“It’s just the reaction we were after,” Ruth said. “It’s been a tough week for the players. They were wounded after the Cambridge game, but have responded really well.

“Young players can either let a result compound things and find it difficult to get out of it, or they can stand up, try to amend things and go after it in the very next game.

“We wanted to come here and not think about the competition or the opponent. It was all about doing the basics as well as we could and being the best version of ourselves.”

Tyler Silsby scored twice in the space of 11 minutes against Millwall on Tuesday. 📸 Simon Roe.

Ruth revealed that much of Albion’s preparation had centred on addressing the defensive shortcomings at Cambridge, and the response was impressive against a Millwall team that was restricted to few clear-cut opportunities on the night.

“In training this week we didn't look at ourselves with the ball at all from the Cambridge game. We only looked at ourselves against the ball,” Ruth explained. “The first thing I wanted to go after was the culture of the team in those moments. Were we running back hard enough? Were we fighting hard enough? That was the foundation.

“Those principles were evident on Tuesday. We cleared our lines far more effectively and didn't try to play out of situations that probably weren't there to play out of. I couldn’t have been happier with the response.”

There were a number of impressive individual performances, with Shane Nti and Younes Ibrahim standing out after returning to the set-up following their involvement with the first-team squad in Getafe last week.

Shane Nti was another to impress Shannon Ruth against Millwall. 📸 Simon Roe.

“I thought Shane was top,” Ruth added. “If you look at his presence in our own box when crosses were coming in, he was always there.

“Younes also did so much good work for the team and for himself. It's never easy for a player to be with our first team and then come back down with the under-21s. To keep coming up and down is not an easy transition, but they both played very well.”

Another major positive came from the impact of substitutes Tyler Silsby and George Munday, who combined for the latter’s goal which broke the deadlock. Silsby also netted a superb brace in the space of 11 minutes.

“You never want players to be happy to be on the bench,” Ruth added. “The best way to respond is to do what both of them did.

“We have this saying that iron sharpens iron, so the more competitive we are, the more we push each other. We've got three strikers, with Bretty [Adam Brett] injured at the moment, but Valentin [Joseph] and George are pushing each other.

“For Tyler, he came out of the team and we put Liam [Crutchett] in, who's a left-back, because we wanted another defensive player. That showed our intention and how important having a defensive foundation was for us, but I'm pleased for Tyler. He's got two goals to his name and an assist.”

Albion are unbeaten in the Premier League Cup this season, having now won three of their four games, and they can secure qualification for the play-off phase with victory against West Ham United next week.

The ultimate target is to win the competition, repeating last season's success when Manchester United were beaten in the final at the Amex.

“Winning Premier League 2 last year was a really important step for us, but also a step for the academy,” Ruth said. “We want to create players who have a winning mentality. Development is always first, but we believe winning and development can come hand in hand.

“Our young players have to get used to thinking bigger, performing beyond their level sometimes and continuing to push. We will always impress that upon them.”