De Zerbi hailed the performance of his young Albion side as his squad battles a long list of injuries.

Brighton fielded six players under the age of 21 including Cam Peupion who made his first start but fell to defeat in the FA Cup after a goal in the opening two minutes.

Mario Lemina made it 1-0 after Jason Steele dropped a cross in the early stages.

Despite the early setback, Albion played neat football and were on top for much of the game but were unable to apply the finishing touch.

Brighton’s head coach said the “future of Brighton” was on the pitch tonight. That included Valentin Barco who signed from Boca Juniors last month.

The Argus: Valentin Barco made his debut in the second halfValentin Barco made his debut in the second half (Image: Richard Parkes)

The Argentinian swung in a delightful ball which was glanced over by substitute Danny Welbeck in the second half.

De Zerbi said: "We played well. We made too many mistakes in the first half to score, the last pass. We created a lot of chances. On the numbers you can’t understand how we played well because we didn’t shoot many times but we played well to score.

“I'm very happy with the performance, the style of play, the attitude and personality we showed. It was very tough playing without width. Nine injured players. 

"We have to accept and respect the policy of the club because we finished the game with Baleba, Barco, Benicio, Enciso, we have a lot of young players. Very good young players, the future of Brighton was on the pitch today. 

“Maybe they are not all so ready to play and to compete for this competition for this level but we are working well and doing great things because we are keeping the same level as last season with a lot, a lot of problems."

The Argus: Mario Lemina opens the scoringMario Lemina opens the scoring (Image: Richard Parkes)

Albion are without nine players in total with eight of those being because of injury. Billy Gilmour is currently serving a three match suspension after his red card against Everton.

Danny Welbeck came on at half time for Cam Peupion as Albion pushed for a goal. De Zerbi said Welbeck was only able to play part of the match due to a knock sustained against Everton on Saturday.

Julio Enciso also looked bright off the bench, drawing three fouls within minutes of coming on.

Facundo Buonanotte was a bright spark and helped Brighton drive through the centre of the pitch, especially in the first half.

Despite Brighton's good build up, they struggled to get shots on target. Jason Steele could have been an FA Cup hero after finding himself in space in the last seconds. A header fell at his feet but his shot went wide in the dying seconds.

Wolves will host Championship side Coventry City on March 16 in the quarter finals.

Albion travel to Fulham in the Premier League this Saturday.