Solly March is upsetting a fashionable narrative.

The one that says English players cannot break through in the Premier League.

Albion provided March, 24, and team-mate Lewis Dunk (below centre) with a pathway. They are exceptions to the rule.

The Argus: "Off the top of my head I can't think of many (others)," March said. "Burnley would have a couple. I don't know if it's a bit harsh or not, I can't remember, but when I joined, Brighton were probably just an average Championship club.

"Rather than joining a Premier League club, you've got a chance to get into the first team. You don't want to be leaving at 20 not having made a career for yourself, so that's probably the reason.

"It's just the amount of foreign players in the English game. It does obviously make it harder for young, English talents.

"If you look at other leagues, the Spanish league, it's not just Spanish players but they are probably a high percentage, 80 or 90 per cent.

"In the Premier League I don't know what (percentage) it is but there are not many English players, so it makes it a lot harder."

Recognising the problem is easier than solving it.

"Obviously the Premier League wants the best players," March said. "Maybe the price you are going to pay for that is English players coming through.

"There is the eight players in the squad homegrown (rule). Whether they can extend that into a team I don't know."

March, awarded a new four-year contract in the summer, makes his 118th league appearance for Albion at Manchester City today.

Not bad for a failed schoolboy trialist whose first team debut for Lewes when he was 17 came a month after Albion moved into the Amex.

"I was on trial here," he said. "It got extended to two months or so. Nothing came of it.

"That was under-14s, under-15s, and I went back to playing local football, Eastbourne or somebody, then under-18s it was Lewes. Twenty odd and a dog (watching)."

Paid? "No, nothing at all," March said. "I was at school at St Bede's and playing for them, like a normal schoolboy.

"It was always what I wanted to do but at that stage it was a distant dream, especially the Premier League.

"You don't even think about that, you just want to get somewhere in the football pyramid."

March had a trial at Newcastle before Albion rekindled their interest.

"They offered me a contract at Millwall and I was close to taking it," he said. "Brighton came in quite late and that was obviously the best choice for me. It's worked out now.

The Argus: "I was a second year scholar. Martin Hinshelwood was here, Vic Bragg (above). Vic's still here. I still speak to Vic. He seems to have been here forever!

"It's changed massively if you look at everything. It's a completely different level."

Others are striving to follow in March's footsteps. Albion's under-23s, a mix of British and overseas prospects, stretched their unbeaten start to the season against the biggest clubs in the country with a last-gasp draw at Leicester on Monday.

"You see them in the gym and walking around the training ground," March said. "In the last two years they've lifted themselves and the way they've started the season in their top league is great.

"There are definitely a couple of players that can push to make the first team."

Dan Ashworth joins Albion from the FA in the spring as the club's first ever technical director. His overseeing role will encompass the academy, recruitment and medical department.

Owner-chairman Tony Bloom's wish is to establish Albion long-term in the Premier League. The appointment of Ashworth is designed to assist that aim.

"He has said Brighton is one of the most progressive clubs in the country and that's why he wanted to join," March said.

"I think it will maybe move the club into that next category and hopefully it will start to show on the field and lift the club even higher."