Albion’s youngsters will learn the hard way from a tough night at Nottingham Forest.

The Seagulls went down 3-1 at the City Ground after going ahead through a Facundo Buonanotte strike.

Head coach Roberto De Zerbi said: "We have a lot of very good young players, [Facundo] Buonanotte and [Julio] Enciso.

“But young players need to play and make mistakes and you have to give them the time to progress and improve.

“I am disappointed but I am not frustrated because I know the situation.

“I know we are Brighton, we can't forget we are Brighton - when we win or lose and especially when we lose.

"We have to be proud of our results this season and we have to be focused on the last eight games.

“We can fight to achieve our target.

“We deserve to fight to reach our target but the situation is tough because we are not used to playing so many games in a row.

"Yesterday (Tuesday), I said this game was the most important game of the season.

“I’’m 44 years old. I knew yesterday and I knew on Sunday evening I knew the game today was very, very, very tough.

“It was very tough for the energy but for the head too.”