Roberto De Zerbi has paid tribute to men’s under-21 head coach Shannon Ruth and his assistants after regularly supplementing the first-team squad with academy players.
If there is a silver lining to the series of injuries that the club has had to endure over the winter, it is that more of the club’s prospects have been called into first team training and been part of match-day squads.
Nine academy players went on the warm-weather training trip to Dubai in January, and head coach De Zerbi has been impressed with their quality and how well they have been prepared to step up.
"The recruitment of Brighton is top, but I want to congratulate the coaches of the academy,” he said. “For example, the under-21 coach of Brighton (Shannon Ruth) is a top, top coach.
"When I work with his young players I understand immediately the level of the session, the level of the idea of the coach of the under-21s.
“I have a big respect for the academy, for the young players, especially because I work in Brighton and the policy is like this. We have many potential important players, Benicio Baker-Boaitey, Jack Hinchy is another important player. When we need them we are happy if we can give them the chance to play.”
Baker-Boaitey has made three substitute appearances in the Premier League so far, while Hinchy came off the bench late in the 4-2 victory away to Stoke City in the FA Cup. Josh Duffus appeared late in the 1-0 victory away to AEK Athens in the Europa League.
Others to make the first-team bench recently include defenders Imari Samuels and Leigh Kavanagh, midfield players Cam Peupion, Luca Barrington and Samy Chouchane, and under-21s top scorer Mark O’Mahony.
Ruth is sure that the youngsters have improved as a result of joining in sessions with international performers such as Lewis Dunk, Adam Lallana, James Milner, Billy Gilmour and Pascal Gross.
“Definitely,” he said. “If you look at Leigh Kavanagh [against Swansea in the Premier League Cup], that was his first game in two months but I look at how well he used his skills, how well he communicated with the team, the quality of his passing. Spending time with Lewis Dunk and Adam Webster, Igor Julio or Jan Paul van Hecke and being around them and learning from them has been excellent for him. I saw a more confident Leigh Kavanagh.
“We are very lucky that we have one of the best managers in the world at our football club and he makes everybody better - certainly our young players, but he makes us better as a staff too. How much we have been able to learn from Roberto and his ideas about football has helped us grow to another level.
“We try to play a similar style as the first team, to benefit the players so that the transition between groups is as smooth as possible. But the fact that the group spends so much time with Roberto and his coaching staff in the first team means that they are getting unbelievable levels of detail from Roberto and the senior players so that when they come back down to us, they are better for sure.
“We look like a team that has a good understanding and plays good football and I thought Jack Hinchy was a good example when he came on at Stoke. He immediately understood the patterns and what was required, and that is a good indication that we are heading in the right direction.”