Brighton and Hove Albion boss Roberto De Zerbi feels that his side’s flock of young Seagulls are moving in the right direction after the 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace on Thursday.
The goal came from a veritable veteran as second-half substitute Danny Welbeck nodded home to salvage a point in the 82nd minute at Selhurst Park.
But the 33-year-old was present on a pitch littered with Albion youngsters including 21-year-old goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen, whose mistake led to Jordan Ayew’s opener on the stroke of half-time.
Carlos Baleba, 19, Jack Hinshelwood, 18, and Simon Adingra, 21, were among the other starters for the visitors.
And Albion nearly walked away with all three points when a late deflection off Welbeck from Dean Henderson’s punched clearance rolled wide of the Palace keeper’s open net.
De Zerbi said: “The young players need time to improve, to progress. If you remember Facundo Buonanotte two or three months ago, he was different than the Facundo today now.
“I think he is playing with more energy, with a different attitude, with a different mentality. Now I think he feels able to play, to stay in the Premier League.
“And two months ago, three months ago, I didn’t see the same attitude, the same behaviour.
“I’m really happy for him because he is a good guy. He has a right spirit. He has the right character to play. I think he can be important.”
Buonanotte came on for Baleba at half-time while Adingra was taken off, with Welbeck introduced. With their starts, Baleba and Hinshelwood made the 100th and 101st appearances by teenagers in the Premier League this calendar year for Brighton.
De Zerbi said: “Baleba now is not yet ready to play in this level but he has incredible potential.
“We have to accept and we have to be happy to play, to work, with these young players.
“Welbeck is different to Baleba. Pascal Gross is different to Baleba. But Baleba is the future of the club. Adingra the same. Evan Ferguson the same. Facundo Buonanotte the same.”
There was a bit of deja vu for Palace fans who, during the previous home match had watched their side carry a promising 1-0 lead into the second half against Liverpool.
Then, Ayew was shown a second yellow and sent off and forced to sit out the Eagles’ dramatic 2-2 draw at Manchester City.
Ayew’s dismissal led to Palace conceding two late goals and remaining in search of just a second home victory of the season – an accomplishment that still evades them after Thursday night’s draw, which extended their winless streak to seven Premier League matches.
It was the fifth straight game in which Palace had drawn 1-1 with rivals Brighton at Selhurst Park.
The result also leaving Roy Hodgson’s 15th-placed side mired in their longest winless run since the 12-match streak that ultimately led to his successor-turned-predecessor Patrick Vieira’s sacking in March.
Hodgson said: “I think a lot of credit must go to Brighton. We weren’t able to reproduce in the second half the quality of our performance in the first half when we really did peg them back. We stopped them playing the way they wanted to play.
“As the game went on you could argue that the game actually got better at that and forced us to work even harder to keep them at bay. But we carried on pushing forward.”
