Stoke boss Alex Neil reserved special praise for 16-year-old debutant Sol Sidibe following their 2-1 win over West Brom in the Carabao Cup.
A first-half own goal from Josh Griffiths and calm finish from Andre Vidigal – either side of Brandon Thomas-Asante’s second-half leveller – saw the Potters progress to round two.
Sidibe, son of club icon Mamady, was deservedly named man of the match for his midfield performance.
Speaking after the match, Neil said: “I can’t speak highly enough of him, he completely justified his place in the team.
“It’s hard to say (how good he can be). The hard work is where it starts, but his talent and temperament are more than good enough.
“At 16, I certainly wasn’t doing the things he’s doing. He got a booking and I didn’t even worry about taking him off.
“I thought we were very good. All the players deserve a massive amount of credit.”
The Baggies started the game brightly and eventually found a route back into the game through substitute Thomas-Asante, who flicked the ball home with 64 minutes on the clock.
The result caps a difficult few days for the visitors, who suffered an opening-day league defeat against Blackburn at the weekend.
Albion manager Carlos Corberan said: “We didn’t achieve the result we wanted today. We didn’t manage the ball well enough in the first half.
“Unfortunately, losing the ball made the game more open and they found a way to make chances.
“In both games (so far this season) we have seen similar things, both positive and negative.
“In football, it’s important to learn from mistakes, and in the last two games it’s true we have lost goals from mistakes.
“It’s important that we talk about this and do our best to fix it.
“The transfer window is still open and we knew we would find the squad towards the end of the market. The team still needs to grow.”
