The development squad players who are on tour in Austria

We’re told one of the biggest differences between Chris Hughton and Graham Potter will be Potter’s willingness to give the Albion’s talented young players an opportunity.

The new boss turned a number of Swansea City’s academy graduates into full Welsh internationals during his year at the Liberty Stadium, the most famous example being Daniel James who was transformed from reserve team player into a man who Manchester United paid £15m for.

Under Hughton, just two academy graduates were given first team league debuts in four-and-a-half years for a grand total of 18 minutes of playing time.

Defender Rob Hunt played 17 of those when an injury to Bruno forced Hughton to introduce him away at Burton Albion on Saturday 17th September 2016.

James Tilley was the lucky man to get the other minute when coming on away at Middlesbrough in a dead rubber for the final game of the 2014-15 season.

With Simon Rusk’s Under 23s finishing third in Premier League 2 last season, there is clearly talent further down the pecking order at the American Express Elite Football Performance Centre.

Potter has taken six of Rusk’s squad on the first team’s tour to Austria, giving them the opportunity to impress the Seagulls boss and his coaching staff during their week long training camp and friendly this weekend against Austrian second tier side FC Liefering.

The player who would seem to have the biggest chance of impressing is Aaron Connolly. Connolly needs no introduction, his 17 goals in 20 Under 23 appearances last season bringing him to the attention of Albion fans everywhere as well as earning him the coveted accolade of PL2 Player of the Season.

With the difficulties that the Albion have had in signing a new striker continuing for what feels like a 77th consecutive summer, a strong showing from Connolly could well catapult him into Potter’s thinking ahead of the Premier League season.

Florin Andone will probably spend as much time injured and suspended as he does on the pitch and Jurgen Locadia has shown little so far. Somebody needs to ease the burden on Glenn Murray and being with the senior squad in Austria gives Connolly the opportunity to show it could be him.

Swedish striker Viktor Gyokeres came closest to making a first team breakthrough under Hughton last season. He was used four times in the Albion’s run to the FA Cup Semi Finals and was an unused substitute on a number of occasions in the Premier League.

He even managed to score in his second international appearance for Sweden against Iceland back in January. Not many players can say they’ve notched for their country before they’ve made their league debut for their club.

Gyokeres’ strongest position is down the middle, which puts him in a similar boat to Connolly. He has also been used out wide on occasions, which might be an intriguing proposition to Potter depending on what formation he uses.

Something like a 4-2-3-1 could see Gyokeres slot in as one of the players behind Murray or whoever leads the line. Interestingly, he had an impressive pre-season campaign with the senior squad last summer which counted for nothing in the eyes of Hughton. If he can repeat that, then he’s likely to get more of a chance under Potter.

Potter has taken a third attacking option with him in the form of striker Jan Mlakar. The 20-year-old was signed by the Albion in January but loaned straight back out to Maribor, whom his 15 goals in 36 games helped fire to the Slovenian title.

Mlakar came through the ranks at Fiorentina. He made a handful of appearances in the famous purple shirt before joining Maribor in his home country last summer.

When the deal to sign Mlakar was completed, many of us assumed he would be another Mathias Normann or Aleš Matějů who we would see neither hide nor hair of.

The fact Potter has taken Mlakar to Austria with him is noteworthy, as is the fact he’s been sporting the number 18 shirt in training, suggesting that he is very much in the head coach’s plans.

Under 23s captain Max Sanders is the fourth man in Austria. He is held in high regard by the Albion, as shown by the fact that he regularly skippers the development squad despite being one of the younger players at 20-years-old. He’s also been capped by England up to Under 19 level.

Sanders can play as a traditional midfielder or in a holding role, a position that we were sorely lacking in last season when Hughton made his fateful switch to 4-3-3.

Could Sanders fill that role? Accepted football logic suggests that such a crucial position as holding midfield requires experience, something which Sanders does not have.

As a result, it will be interesting to see what happens with Sanders and if or where he is used by Potter over the next month.

One player who does have some experience of the lower leagues is Steve Alzate who spent the first half of last season out on loan in League Two with Swindon Town.

It was a relatively successful campaign at the County Ground for the attacking midfielder. He played 24 times, scoring three goals and claiming four assists before a stress fracture to his back saw him ruled out for the remainder of the season.

Alzate is now fit and firing and will be looking to put what he learned during his time with Swindon to good use. He has also played 12 times in the Football League with Leyton Orient as an 18-year-old before the Albion signed him.

Goalkeeper Robert Sanchez is the sixth Under 23 player that Potter has taken on tour. Like Alzate, he spent time in the fourth tier last season, making 17 appearances for Forest Green Rovers. He conceded 17 goals and kept two clean sheets during his time at the New Lawn.

Given that Maty Ryan, David Button, Jason Steele and Christian Walton are all ahead of Sanchez in the pecking order, it seems a strange decision on paper to have included the 21-year-old in the travelling party.

One of the most striking things about Potter that we took from our interview with Swansea City fanzine Swansea Oh Swansea was that he would base his goalkeeper selection largely on who was the best when it came to playing out from the back.

Editor Steve Carroll told us, “One thing I will say is the onus is on attacking play and passing football, with the goalkeeper expected to be part of that. Of our goalkeeping options, Potter favoured the one who is better with his feet, even though he can barely catch a cross or save a shot!”

Could Sanchez have been taken to Austria because he is the best option when it comes to playing out from the back? He came through the academy at Levante and so is well versed in the Spanish ideals of what a goalkeeper should be expected to do with his feet, but even so it would be a bold decision to promote him up the pecking order.

Aside from those six, there are two notable Under 23 absences from the main touring party. Jayson Molumby hasn’t travelled due to a slight injury while Tudor Baluta has been given extra time off following his exertions at the European Under 21 Championships where he helped Romania to reach the final four.