Slavisa Jokanovic was delighted with the performance of his young Fulham side as they overcame Leyton Orient by three goals to two in the first round of the EFL Cup.
Eight of the club's starting XI spent time in the Whites' academy, with four current players in Ryan Sessegnon, Dennis Adeniran, Lucas De La Torre and Adetayo Edun in the line up.
Watched on by the club's academy staff, Adeniran scored the opening goal while Sessegnon, whose admirers include Arsenal and Liverpool, also shone from the full back position.
And while Jokanovic is not going to include more young players at this juncture, he is pleased with their performances and, if they impress him, he will include them in league matches.
He said: “They did well. It's a great project of the football club. They are knocking on the door, it's a question they can push this door down and break into the first team.
“They play very good football and showed great character. Dennis scored one goal.
“I have enough youngsters. I want to bring in senior players. I have five kids. They show me quality and characters.
“Five youngsters are enough. In the future, they can be important players for the football club.”
Jokanovic was highly impressed with Sessegnon's display and, while acknowledging the club's first player born after the turn of the millennium needs time to develop, he believes that the 16-year-old can be an important player in English football.
The Serbian added: “He's one of the Fulham project. He had a great pre-season. All the academy boys, for me, had a quality pre-season.
“They showed they have quality, keen to learn and working hard and they showed some kind of the quality too. Ryan Sessegnon is a talented boy.
“I'm sure he'll participate in the competitions this year. We have to assess him and we have to help him.
“He's still working in the Championship with competition from other players. He's still a boy so he needs to grow up.
“He's ready for some part of this competition. We have to care about him. I believe in the future he'll be an important player in English football. This boy needs time.”
