Graham Potter reveals why he dropped young Brighton star Steven Alzate

Alzate, 21, started three straight matches in the Premier League and impressed against Newcastle, Chelsea and Tottenham.

The versatile midfielder dropped to the bench for the defeat at Aston Villa but did come on for the last 10 minutes at Villa Park and once again looked assured at Premier League level.

Connolly, 19, started at Villa, having scored twice on his first Premier League start against Spurs. The Ireland international missed a couple of chances against Villa and was taken off at halftime, after the dismissal of Aaron Mooy.

Mooy will be suspended for tomorrow's home match against Everton and Alzate, fit-again Leandro Trossard and Solly March will likely battle it out for a starting role.

"It was just a feeling based on training," said Potter on why Alzate didn't start at Villa, "With a young player you start and you get by on a couple of games. With Davy (Propper) coming back, I just thought it was the right time to just give him a breather.

I think he played pretty much every minute of the last three (prior to Villa). A bit like Aaron Connolly, we are responsible for his career for the long term. We have a lot of faith in him and a lot of belief in him and you want to manage this stage of his career in a good way

"When he came on (Villa) he was really good, showed his quality again and he's in contention for the weekend."