Beaglehole Highlights Impressive Hirst Display In Brighton Defeat
- Leicester City's Development Squad were beaten 3-0 by Brighton & Hove Albion on Friday
- The Foxes are now ninth in Premier League 2 Division 1 after three matches
- Steve Beaglehole was keen to praise substitute George Hirst for his efforts at King Power Stadium
- The Under-23s coach also pointed to the strength of all teams in the league this term
City's youngsters suffered their first defeat of the new season, a 3-0 reverse against Brighton & Hove Albion at King Power Stadium, following draws with Everton and Blackburn Rovers.
However, while the Club's Senior Professional Development Phase Coach was understandably disappointed, he was nonetheless pleased with the promise shown by Hirst, a summer signing.
The 20-year-old striker was introduced just before the break, replacing Ali Reghba, and it was through him which the Foxes found the most joy in attacking positions on Filbert Way.
"I was delighted for players like George," Beaglehole told LCFC TV. "It was a big night for him and he’s not fully fit yet, so he needs games, but he was shooting with vengeance.
"He won his headers, got a few shots off on goal, and he showed traits of players who have done well for this Development Squad over the years.
"He had a desire and a winner’s mentality about him. He was totally unfazed by coming into the game and I was really pleased with him. He was the big positive from this evening."
Beaglehole also pointed to the progress of Brighton's academy over previous seasons at full-time, but was keen to acknowledge that Leicester's performance was frustrating.
"Brighton are a good team, they are very organised and they look very fit and athletic," he added. "They caused us a lot of problems and we didn’t get to grips with them in midfield.
"I’m disappointed that we’ve come and played at this stadium in this way because they need to learn to be comfortable here if they’re going to one day play for the first team.
"This league is getting stronger and stronger each year. If you look at how far Brighton have come over the last few years, that is clear.
"The sides that have come up, like Southampton, have good players and Wolves, who we play next week, is a club which has developed a lot in a short spell of time.
"There’s no easy game in this league and the lads have got to be up for it so the league is a great stage for players to develop and for scouts to see how players can handle it."