Graham Potter has explained why he went with such a young side against Aston Villa.

The Albion boss named a side featuring just two outfield players with significant experience in Shane Duffy and Gaetan Bong.

Fans were stunned to see seven starters make their senior debuts, including two 17-year-olds.

Yves Bissouma, who had been expected to play, was not involved, although he reported for duty.

Potter was asked by The Argus whether his line-up was out of choice or necessity.

He said: “A bit of both, I would say. With Chelsea on Saturday, we have got a couple of lads sick, a couple of players who are recovering (from injury) and quite close but we just thought it was too soon for them to play.”

Asked whether Bissouma and Leon Balogun were the players who were close, Potter said: “Bissouma definitely, yes.

“Balogun is not far away but probably too soon for this game.”

Bissouma has been recovering from shoulder treatment in the summer and played the final minutes as sub at Newcastle on Saturday.

Asked whether he could have included more experience in his team, Potter said: “Not really, not with the situation we have got.

“We are just going through that little phase at the moment.

“In the last round we were able to use a bit more experience and it would have been preferable, I suppose, to have had a couple more around.

“A couple were close but it just wasn’t worth the risk, really.”