West Ham United midfielder Mark Noble believes the Europa League can only improve the younger players in the squad and give them vital first-team experience.
Reece Oxford, Lewis Page and Reece Burke were all handed a starting place in the first qualifying round last week in front of a sell out crowd at the Boleyn Ground.
Josh Cullen and Elliot Lee will also get their chance to impress when they start the second leg in Andorra on Thursday night.
Noble, who also came through the ranks at West Ham United, says he would have loved the chance to experience European football at such a young age and feels it will stand them in good stead for the rest of their careers.
Noble said: "I have always said that players like Lewis Page and Josh Cullen need to play games because I was lucky enough to get into the first-team at 17 and stay there for the last ten-years.
“You need the experience of playing games and I'm sure they would have benefitted massively from that.
“Some of them made their debuts in Europe and no-one can take that away from them. What an amazing achievement that is in front of 36,000 under the lights at the Boleyn Ground and I'm sure they will never forget it.”
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