ALBION boss Chris Hughton has played down Jake Forster-Caskey’s absence from the opening pre-season friendly.

Hughton used a mix of 22 senior pros and under-21s in a 4-0 friendly victory at Crawley.

There was no place for Rotherham transfer target Forster-Caskey or out-of-favour Dutchman Danny Holla.

Hughton told The Argus: “The only reason I left them out was very much a positional thing. I decided I wanted to play players in their right positions.

“I would have had to play Jake in a wide area and Danny Holla centre-half, so that’s all it was.”

Richie Towell was ruled out by a minor knee injury, hampering the hopes of the Irish midfielder making an impression during pre-season.

Hughton said: “He just felt his knee. He hasn’t missed a day’s training, so it was more a precaution. He’ll have to rest it for a few days, let it settle down and then come again.”

Under-21s keeper Robert Sanchez and rookie central defenders Ben Hall, Ben White and Tom Dallison had run-outs, with David Stockdale (toe), Connor Goldson (knee) and Uwe Huenemeier (groin) all sidelined.

Hughton said: “Injuries are always a concern. At any stage of the season you want as many players available as possible. The good thing is they are not long-term periods. We are going to have to do without them for a very short period of time.

“As a club we have invested I think well at under-21 level. The squad is definitely bigger and stronger than it was and we could be looking towards them at some stage this season.

“We are not allowed to bring in emergency loans and in difficult periods you want to be able to pull people out from that under-21 group. That’s what we are trying to do.”

Albion tackle Championship rivals Fulham next at Aldershot FC tomorrow night (7.45pm).