JURGEN Locadia has been praised for his performance in a thankless task at Manchester City.

The injury-hit Dutch striker was handed his first Premier League start of the season in the 2-0 defeat at the Etihad.

Locadia ploughed a lone furrow up front in place of top scorer Glenn Murray.

Manager Chris Hughton told The Argus: "I thought he did well.

"Whoever was going to play you knew it was going to be a difficult game and they would have to do their running without the majority of the ball.

"That was the reason (he started). I thought it was a good opportunity to freshen things up a little bit, give Glenn a rest. I was really pleased with Jurgen's contribution."

Romanian striker Florin Andone was not in the matchday squad after featuring for the first time as an unused substitute in the previous game at home to Spurs.

Hughton said: "I felt any substitutions I would make would more likely be in the wide areas.

"Ali (Jahanbakhsh) was always going to be on the bench. Jose (Izquierdo) and Florin haven't played so much and it was a choice between the two of them.

"He (Izquierdo) has had a fairly long lay-off now. Once he is fully back up to speed fitness-wise it's almost like having a new player."

Izquierdo made his first appearance of the season in the closing stages after returning from the World Cup with Colombia with a knee injury.

Hughton now has a variety of attacking options to consider for Friday's home game against West Ham (8pm).