Graham Potter has defended playing Brighton's youngsters in Wednesday's loss to Aston Villa.
The Seagulls were knocked out of the Carabao Cup after Potter made 10 changes to the line-up that drew with Newcastle United on Saturday.
Asked by The Argus whether his line-up was out of choice or necessity, Potter 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."
