Evan Ferguson sends heartfelt message to Roberto De Zerbi and makes Ireland national team admission after Brighton hammer West Ham

Ferguson, 18, has been a revelation for Albion this season and showed there was more to his game than just goals during Saturday’s 4-0 win.

Just days after scoring the winner against Stoke in the FA Cup – his fifth in 13 games in all competitions this season – the teenager regularly dropped into deeper areas against the Hammers.

He brought his teammates into play all afternoon with some neat touches and it was his flick that created the space before Kaoru Mitoma’s goal.

When asked if he was not a ‘traditional number nine’, Ferguson said: “It's different. I have to play in different positions when we have the ball.

"I have to cover so it’s about learning different positions, getting myself in the right place and doing the right things.

"I used to play in midfield as a kid so I know little bits. Obviously there’s a big difference here but there’s some natural bits.”

The Irishman has been playing with maturity above his years this season and got back to where he left off before his nasty-looking injury against Liverpool last month.

"I had the injury and had the scan but it wasn’t as bad as we thought from the start. I had to do some rehab and missed one or two games.

"As soon as I came back in I felt good as I didn’t miss much time. I haven’t lost anything, I’ve come back the same as I was before.”

Republic of Ireland manager Stephen Kenny recently told reporters that there’s still much to learn about Ferguson but acknowledged his ‘meteoric rise’ to the big stage.

The youngster was capped by Kenny in the November friendlies against Norway and Malta – coming on as a substitute in both games.

With the next international break coming up at the end of the month, Ferguson is hoping to be in contention for the Euro 2024 qualifier against France on March 27.

But he revealed he has ‘not heard’ yet from the national team's manager.

"It’s still three weeks away so will have to wait and see,” he said. “Hopefully I get a call up.”

Meanwhile, 'surprised’ was not the word Ferguson wanted to use after Brighton ran away with the game against West Ham.

He said: “We had our game plan. We were getting success from it. If you keep repeating it, eventually you will get what you deserve.

"Whoever we are playing against we will do the same thing,” he said. “Luckily it worked today and we were successful."

On what it’s like to play in a De Zerbi team, Ferguson added: “It’s good for me.

"He’s the first manager that’s given me the opportunity to play. I need to thank him for that. The way we play suits me so it’s good.”

Ferguson added that he is enjoying playing with a talented group of players, who are in their form of their careers so far – and didn’t rule out a push for a European place.

He said: “There’s no one better to play with at the moment so it’s good.

"Every game in the Premier League is a learning experience. Every defender is different in their own way so it’s good to play against different playing styles.

“We take it every week, game by game. We have our targets but hopefully we can go as far as we can.”

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