A Sussex college has produced international footballers for the third year in a row.

Liam O'Brien and Lee Newman's selection for the English Colleges squad follows on from call-ups for Ollie Rowland in 1999 and Tom Djamaluddin last year.

The Brighton, Hove and Sussex Sixth Form College pair believe the help of Albion is a big reason why they have such a prolific production line.

Defender O'Brien, 17, from Brighton, a former Seagulls centre of excellence trialist, said: "Albion come in and take a lot of our coaching. People like Steve Ford and Dave Jupp provide superb sessions and that is a big help. One of the main reasons I came to the college was because it had a growing reputation for having good footballers.

"That certainly seems the case. We've got a a good team and are currently top of the English College Academy League."

The Brighton Boys centre-back/full-back, formerly a Cardinal Newman (Hove) pupil, and striker Newman were only able to play in one trial due to injury.

He said: "I got a dead leg and Lee had a groin problem and we missed the second trial. So, although, I'm delighted I got in, I was a bit surprised."

Newman. 17, who attended Blatchington Mill (Hove) before switching to BHASVIC, admitted it was touch-and-go.

He said: "They told us that if there was anyone better than us at the second trial that we'd miss out. Fortunately they didn't find anyone.

"What helped us was that our college beat East Berkshire College, which was managed by the English College manager Simon East. We had a good day that day, won 4-2 and impressed him."

Newman hopes his inclusion is a step towards the professional game.

He was at Tottenham's academy for two years before a mystery stomach complaint limited his appearances and ended his spell with the north London club.

English Colleges are to face the RAF under-25s at Cosford on January 18 and the English Schools at Lilleshall a day later.

BHASVIC pair Rob Neal and Anthony Hibbert, plus Eric Barrett (Holy Trinity, Crawley) have missed out on an English Schools' under-18s squad place after trials.