Evan Ferguson hasn’t played yet under Brighton’s new head coach Fabian Hurzeler, but that hasn’t stopped the Ireland striker from impressing his new boss.
Ferguson’s workrate and his willingness to take on board the demands of the Premier League’s youngest manager has caught the attention of the 31-year-old.
His attitude since his return to training from ankle surgery four months ago has helped speed up his imminent return to first-team football.
The Meathman faces a race to be fit in time for Saturday’s clash with Manchester United, but is expected to be back in action ahead of next month’s Nations League games against England and Finland.
Hurzeler hailed Ferguson (19) ahead of his return, saying: ‘For me, the most important thing for a young player – and he’s a young player – is his attitude and his character.
‘And when I see him working in rehab, on the pitch, beside the pitch, that is impressive. And when we have video meetings, he’s really into it. He tries to focus.
‘He knows what we want from him. He’s very interested in how our style of play is and you really feel that he wants to improve and that he’s really into it.
‘I heard a lot of positive things about him. I saw a lot of positive things and we will try to help him. We try to improve him and then he can be a really good striker in the Premier League.’