Journalist Tom Barclay was very impressed by Brighton defender Tariq Lamptey's performance against Manchester City last Saturday.

The 21-year-old was making just his second Premier League appearance of 2021 after a lengthy lay-off with a hamstring injury, but it looked like he had never been away.

How did Lamptey perform against Man City?

The Seagulls had a chastening first half, as a Phil Foden brace and an Ilkay Gundogan strike put City 3-0 up at the interval.

With the game slipping away from Brighton, Graham Potter decided to introduce Lamptey to the action with just over half an hour remaining.

Operating as a right-back, Lamptey brought plenty of energy off the bench, completing two successful dribbles and making a key pass as Brighton tried to fightback in the latter stages of the contest.

Ultimately, Potter's men fell short, as City picked up a resounding 4-1 win, but Lamptey can be proud of his display.

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What did Barclay say about Lamptey?

The defeat was a setback for Brighton, as it was just their second loss in their opening nine league matches. 

However, Barclay was blown away by Lamptey's cameo performance in the second half.

Speaking about Lamptey, he told GIVEMESPORT: “In that Man City performance, bear in mind the game was pretty much over by the time he came on after those early goals in the first half, but he was brilliant. He just showed exactly what we saw from before the injury.

"He looked excellent in that game."

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Is Lamptey ready to start for Brighton?

Potter will know that he needs to be very careful with how quickly he brings Lamptey back into his starting XI.

Following his outing against City, there will be calls for Lamptey to start this weekend's clash with Liverpool at Anfield.

Yet it must be remembered that the full-back, who is valued at £16.2m by Transfermarkt, is still in the early stages of his comeback from a serious injury which kept him out of the game for nine months.

Putting him in from the start against Mohamed Salah and co. may be asking too much of Lamptey when he is still building his confidence. Therefore, it might be wise for Potter to remain cautious for now and gradually increase Lamptey's game time in the next couple of weeks, before handing him a start after next month's international break.

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