IBRAHIMA Diallo played his first 90 minutes in a Saints shirt as the club’s B Team were beaten 1-0 by Brighton at St Mary’s.

The France under-21 international, a £12million summer signing from Brest, lined up alongside the likes of Yan Valery, Jake Vokins, Will Smallbone, Nathan Tella, Dan N’lundulu and Michael Obafemi.

But Dave Horseman’s charges failed to find the net against their south coast neighbours, who included the likes of José Izquierdo and Steven Alzate in their line-up.

Saints fashioned the first chance of the contest on seven minutes when, after a neat passing move, Tella’s curling effort was comfortably gathered by Albion stopper Robert Sanchez.

A precise pass from N’Lundulu then found the overlapping run of Valery, who saw his shot across goal well saved.

Brighton’s first chance came when defender Antef Tsoungui glanced wide after running on to a dangerous cross inside the box.

But the Seagulls got what proved to be the winner on 37 minutes. After some stout defending in the Saints box, the ball fell to Max Sanders, who shifted onto his right foot before slotting into the top corner.

Saints then felt they should have had a penalty on 67 minutes. A jinking run from Tella saw the forward felled inside the box, with no spot-kick given by the match official.

N’Lundulu then spurned a glorious opportunity with 15 minutes left. After bringing down Valery’s cross and holding off his defenders – the young striker blasted wide from close range.

As Saints piled on the pressure late on, Tella forced a sharp stop from Sanchez before N’Lundulu again failed to hit the target.

The result left Saints 12th in the table, ahead of Friday’s trip to Manchester United.