Roberto De Zerbi has insisted he is not afraid to give younger players their chance – and let them learn by their mistakes.

The Albion head coach is getting to know his squad well heading towards the end of a second complete week with the full group in training.

He has named the same starting XI in his two games so far.

And even the one change to Graham Potter’s last XI before leaving was enforced due to Enock Mwepu’s serious health issues.

Under-21s defender Ed Turns was called into the 20 for the home game with Tottenham.

Word from Lancing is that the training sessions have been very intense.

Clearly everyone will be out to impress and one suspects any tweaks so far have just been a taste of what is to come.

De Zerbi has been asked about a few players in press conferences.

One was Pervis Estupinan, a player he described as an unpolished diamond.

The full-back is an experienced Ecuador international who has played in a Champions League semi-final and the Spanish top flight.

But, at 24, he is still on an upward trajectory – and ‘young’ in Premier League terms.

Not that anyone was telling De Zerbi that Estupinan “doesn’t know the league” of course.

But he left us with an obvious follow-up question: How do you polish the diamond which is Estupinan.

Via his interpreter, the head coach replied: “Giving him trust, giving him the chance to make mistakes.

“And, of course, giving him the chance to play.

“In Italy, we talk about a lot about young players, how they have to improve, how they have to grow.

But the only way to develop young players is to risk and give them the chance to play on the pitch.

“They can only mature on the pitch.”

The original question was actually about whether Leandro Trossard had scope for improvement.

De Zerbi said he did - and that he was not the only one.

He mentioned that midfield pair Alexis Mac Allister and Moises Caicedo as two with room to grow.

Then he said: “Estupinan is still very young. He is a rough diamond.

“We have to clean him and polish him and work on that.”

Estupinan could feature tomorrow at the Brentford stadium where predecessor Marc Cucurella made his Premier League debut early last season.

The fact he does not play a position in a way to which many of us are accustomed perhaps unsettles some fans.

We have seen that occasionally before.

Bruno in his first season was a good example.

As for Estupinan, he offers a lot of athleticism, getting him to situations others might not reach.

He is also something of a hybrid - a full-back who plays like a wing-back or vice versa.

So far he has played quite well advanced as Albion have stuck with the three at the back they often fielded under Graham Potter.

(Though Cucurella was often on the left of that three in his later appearances rather than at wing-back).

But it still feels like De Zerbi is just scratching the surface for now.

Not just of an Ecuadorean diamond but also of his task in hand as a whole. As he has often said, he does not need to make radical changes immediately and it might be counter-productive to do so.

But, as he - perhaps significantly - also mentioned at his press conference last week, the reason Tony Bloom and Paul Barber chose him was to bring De Zerbi football to Brighton.

Not to be a replica of Potter.

And so we wait to see what happens next in terms of selection and tactics - with the added factor that Albion are moving into a busy period of fixtures, going Friday, Tuesday, Saturday.

In terms of that left-hand side, the big question is whether Kaoru Mitoma will continue as an impact sub or will get a start.

To that end, it is possible to argue that Estupinan’s efforts have been under-rated by some.

But maybe that is not the only decision.

Solly March has ended the last two games at left-back and De Zerbi has spoken about him and Mitoma working together down that flank.

Would that be starting with a back four?

De Zerbi appears to feel March could play left-back in that set-up, the way the Italian plays it.

There is a lot to polish up yet - and a head coach who will so without fear.