Tariq Lamptey's return to first team duties is a massive boost for the Albion squad, according to goalkeeper Jason Steele.
“You couldn’t be happier for someone,” the 31-year-old said. “Everyone at this club and in the squad have so much love for Tariq, he’s such a great lad and a great person.”
The pair both started in Albion’s 2-0 Carabao Cup third round win over Swansea City, with Lamptey playing his first 45 minutes of first team football since December 2020.
He's back. 😇 Great to see you, T! 👋 pic.twitter.com/0gDDs4pkvn
— Brighton & Hove Albion (@OfficialBHAFC) September 22, 2021
Steele continued, “He was good as well, he looked like he’d never been away! We’ve seen how hard he’s worked – the ups and downs he’s been through, he’s had some tough times.
“He’s come out the other side and hopefully he will be ready to play in the Premier League soon because he’s a massive asset.”
It was a second consecutive clean sheet and win in the competition for Albion, with Aaron Connolly’s first half brace against the Swans enough to secure a place in the fourth round.
“It’s extremely satisfying. We knew how good Swansea are, they play on the front foot and are very aggressive. They came and had a go, credit to them as they made it really tough for us, but we showed our quality in the end with two good goals and by seeing the result out,” said Steele.
“It was great for Aaron to get two goals and we all know what strikers are like, they love scoring – it’ll be a great confidence booster. Hopefully he can take that into the next few weeks and get some goals in the league.”
Graham Potter named Ed Turns in his starting XI, before Jeremy Sarmiento came on for the final 20 minutes – the pair’s first-team debuts.
“I said to Ed [Turns] before the game ‘enjoy and savour every moment, your first team debut will never come around again’ and after the game I made sure he found his mum and dad. The young lads have had a taste now and they’ll want to kick on and get more.”