Under-21s look to bounce back against Millwall

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Shannon Ruth's side head to Millwall on Tuesday in the Premier League 2 Cup.

Luke Nicoli

2026-11-10T06:00+00:00

Shannon Ruth is looking for a positive response from his players after their heavy defeat against Cambridge United. 📷Simon Roe.

Albion under-21 head coach Shannon Ruth is hoping his side have taken valuable lessons from their heavy 6-0 defeat against Cambridge United when they return to Premier League Cup action at Millwall tonight.

The Seagulls suffered a difficult evening in the Jersey Mike’s Trophy last week, not helped by Ben Barclay’s 38th-minute sending-off, with Ruth’s side shipping all six goals from that point onwards.

“Tonight’s game provides a good opportunity for the players to react,” said Ruth. “At this level it’s all about development so we’ll be looking at how the players have learnt from the Cambridge defeat and making sure it doesn't happen again.

“After going down to ten men, we didn’t manage that situation well enough. We just couldn’t stop their bombardment. From a stylistic perspective, this game will probably look similar so this will test the players’ characters to see how they bounce back.”

From a positive perspective, Albion currently sit top of their Premier League Cup table, a point clear of Sheffield United, having beaten the Blades 2-1 last time out in the competition.

“We can’t lose sight of the many positives we’ve already seen from the side this season, so we’ll be looking to keep pushing hard, keep working hard – and this competition provides us with another chance to win silverware.

“Last season there were some tough defeats, but we went on to win the Premier League 2 final, which made everything so worthwhile.

“It's the lessons along the way that are really important, as well as the growth of the group and the growth of the individuals.

“So if we stand here further along the line and we've improved from what happened at Cambridge, then it's been a tough moment worth having.”