Mark O’Mahony “deserved to score” his first senior goal for Albion, Fabian Huerzeler said – and now he will move to Championship in the search of more game time.

O’Mahony stepped up to fill the role left by injured new signing Matt O’Riley and returned on the trust from Fabian Huerzeler by drilling a low shot into the Crawley net for Albion’s fourth goal.

The young forward will now head to Portsmouth on a season-long loan in the second tier.

Speaking about O’Mahony’s performance on Tuesday, Fabian Huerzeler said in his post-Crawley press conference: “There were a lot of players who only played for 45 minutes in the preseason and that’s why it was not so easy for them to get a game like this [against Crawley] immediately.

“All of our players needed a bit of time just like Mark. The longer the game went the more stable he was, the better actions he had. He is a great character and a very good guy.

“He always try to improve and he is a good scorer. In the end I’m really happy because he is a young guy, he deserves to score today because he works hard in training. Now we see what happens.”

O’Mahony was linked with a move to the Championship to get more playing and will link up with Portsmouth ahead of the end of the transfer window on Friday evening.

The Republic of Ireland youth international saw limited use under Roberto De Zerbi since signing in January 2023 but penned a new deal with Albion in April.

He was one of a number of young players to get game time against Crawley as Imari Samuels, Cameron Peupion, Odel Offiah and Jensen Weir all featured in the 4-0 win.

O’Mahony’s progress at Portsmouth will be monitored by Albion pathway manager Gordon Greer.