The Irishman was inches away from opening his Premier League account against Newcastle United on Saturday, and the Albion boss recognised the forward’s efforts to date ahead of tomorrow night’s Carabao Cup tie with Aston Villa at the Amex.
He said, “Aaron’s done well, he’s been with us from the start, he’s trained every day with the group and he feels comfortable within that.
“You can see his qualities, he wants to run towards goal and finish because he really likes to score goals – that’s important to have on the field.
“He’s a young player and we’re making sure he has the right pathway to the team. Then it’s about us helping him to improve every day at this stage of his career.
“He has a good opportunity here, he nearly scored at the weekend and we’re happy to have him with us.”
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The game with Dean Smith’s side on the south coast follows a 2-1 victory over Bristol Rovers in the last round of the competition, a game in which the Seagulls made 11 changes - Potter spoke about the probability of rotating his squad once again for the game with Villa.
“It’s an opportunity for us to look at the squad and the group in its entirety and look at those individuals who perhaps haven’t played as much,” he continued.
“We can also look at some younger players as well to see how they cope in that type of environment against a strong side.
“It’s a game we want to win, we know we’re in a heavy period of matches with a few knocks, so we also have to look after the group too and make sure that whoever is selected is the right team to help us be competitive.
“The Bristol Rovers game gave us a chance to look at a few other faces and Steven Alzate benefitted from the experience, as did Aaron Connolly.
"This is another game where we can learn a lot about the group at the start of our process together and the more information we can get about our squad the better.”
Wednesday evening’s opponents occupy 18th position in the top flight after the opening six matches, and Potter praised the work his opposite number has done since taking charge at Villa Park.
“They’ve been competitive, I know them well from last year and Dean Smith has done a fantastic job there in getting them up from the Championship.
“I like what they do a lot, it’s clear and they do it well – but it’s not easy in this division to get points.
“They were close again on Sunday to a positive result, but they’ve invested in the summer and they’ll be competitive on Wednesday evening.”
Ticket info…
The match is currently on general sale, however to avoid a price increase of £5, supporters should purchase their tickets before Wednesday.
Advance Price:
| Adults | £15 |
| 65+/Under-21s | £10 |
| Under-18s | £5 |
Matchday Price: (from 9am on Wednesday 25th September)
| Adults | £20 |
| 65+/Under-21s | £15 |
| Under-18s | £10 |
Click here to purchase tickets for the game.
*Booking fees of £1.50 per ticket apply by phone and in person, £1 per ticket booking fee applies online for tickets that are printed and posted/held for collection. Tickets purchased online using print-at-home are exempt from booking fees.