ALBION boss Chris Hughton expects Yves Bissouma to get better and better after handing the Mali midfielder his full debut against Liverpool.

Hughton refused to blame Bissouma for Mo Salah’s first half goal at Anfield that divided the teams.

The summer signing from Lille was caught in possession by James Milner in the build-up to Salah’s decisive strike but otherwise impressed.

Hughton told The Argus: “It’s a learning curve but we shouldn’t have got to that stage in the first place.

“They are a very good pressing team, arguably the best, and if we put ourselves in that position it becomes very difficult for us.

“Overall I was pleased. He’s trained really well since he’s arrived.

“He’s still only young, he’s getting used to the way that we play, but he’s a talented player.

“He will improve I think with each game.

“The reason I played him was because it gave us that little bit of a different dimension in midfield.”

Pascal Gross, brought on for Bissouma after losing his place, almost equalised with a late header saved by Liverpool’s new Brazilian goalkeeper Alisson.

Anthony Knockaert also fired wide a good chance early in the second half in Albion’s best away performance against one of the top six sides since running Manchester United close last season.

Hughton said: “At United in both games, (FA) Cup and League, we played very well but Anfield is an incredibly difficult place to get something from and we played well overall.

“I accept a lot of that was good defensive play to stop them getting opportunities, but I felt we had really good spells during the game.

“To finish as strongly as we did speaks volumes.

“If they get a second one in that first half then it can be very difficult. The encouragement was we picked ourselves up from that, didn’t concede again and that gave us the platform to go on and push to get a result.”

Hughton will weigh up whether to start Bissouma again in tomorrow night’s Carabao Cup second round tie at home to Southampton.