Nascent talent Evan Ferguson has received glowing praise from Brighton manager Graham Potter after opening his goal-scoring account for the Premier League club in Wednesday's 3-0 defeat of Forest Green in the Carabao Cup.
Ferguson, who attracted major interest from Liverpool before joining the Seagulls from Bohemians in January 2021, scored from close range in stoppage time and provided an assist in an eye-catching display.
Potter is now focussed on nurturing the 17-year-old striker, whose performances belie his years.
"He is an intelligent player for someone so young, you look at him and you have to remind yourself he is only 17, so he's got an exciting future, I think," Potter told Sussex Live.
"He’s level-headed and a humble guy who again wants to just play football, wants to score goals, help the team, so he has got lots of nice attributes, good movement, intelligent, so we are happy with him.
"He is a 17-year-old so I want to be careful with him in terms of his development, but he is training with us every day and never looked out of place.
"The boys know his quality and attributes so I wouldn’t want to rush him into anything, but at the same time we really believe that he is going to have a really big future."
Ferguson wasn't the only Republic of Ireland prospect to figure against Forest Green, with 20-year-old defender James Furlong making his debut for the first team and 18-year-old midfielder Andrew Moran sprung from the bench.
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