JAMIE MURPHY vowed to fight for a Premier League place after a goal last night.

The Scottish winger scored in injury time as Albion lost 3-1 at Stevenage in the Checkatrade Trophy.

He was one of five over-age players, plus Izzy Brown, given game time in preparation for the hectic burst of Premier League fixtures between Stoke’s visit a week on Monday and the New Year’s Day tussle with Bournemouth.

Murphy, limited to one league start so far this term, said: “It has been disappointing not to play but you can only try your best, train hard and play hard so that is what I am doing.

“I hope I can make an impact. Things like that are down to other people but I’m looking to do the best I can.”

Asked if he would look to move on in January if a breakthrough was not forthcoming at the Amex, Murphy told The Argus: “It’s not something I’ve thought about so far. But you never know what can happen in football. Things change very quickly.”

Defeat means the Seagulls under-21s bow out of the trophy.

Murphy, believed to be a subject of interest in his native Scotland, said: “I’m disappointed for the younger boys. It was a chance for us to help them go through and that never happened.

“Stevenage were better than us on the night but we have a lot of good young players who will learn a lot from this and go on to have good careers. It is a disappointing result but good to get 90 minutes.”

Tim Krul, Liam Rosenior, Uwe Huenemeier, Ezequiel Schelotto and Izzy Brown each got 90 minutes in testing conditions at the rain-lashed Lamex Stadium.

Chris Hughton, as expected, opted not to use Beram Kayal and Sam Baldock in the fixture as he keeps close tabs on their returns from injury.