Marcus Bettinelli is relishing Fulham’s clash with Brighton and Hove Albion on Friday night as he shapes up to face former mentor David Stockdale.

The former England U21 international goalkeeper credits his Brighton counterpart for his development into becoming the Whites’ first choice stopper.

And ahead of their meeting at the Amex Stadium , the 23-year-old is keen to go head-to-head with his old friend.

He said: “Obviously when I was younger, Stocko was in the first team and he taught me a lot.

“We’re still great friends now, I owe him a lot now, obviously teaching me a lot of things when I was younger.

“At the time there was him and Mark Schwarzer, and Mark was playing a lot and was an amazing person to work under.

“I probably moulded my game off Mark, and Stocko offered me something different that Mark didn’t do in terms of kicking and stuff like that.

“It was the perfect combination to have Mark there and Stocko. It was amazing to learn off both of them.

“It was something I will never forget working with two really really good goalkeepers and I’m glad that Stocko is doing so well this season.

“He’s having a great season, which he deserves because he’s a top lad and has a great family. I keep in touch with him a lot and it will be great to see him next week.”

The Whites travel to third-placed Brighton on Friday night looking to secure a fourth consecutive win.

Another victory could see Slavisa Jokanovic’s men secure Championship safety with four matches remaining against Chris Hughton’s side.

But Bettinelli is under no illusions about the challenge ahead.

He added: “Brighton are a great team – especially this season, they’re having a really really good season. I’m looking forward to going there again.

“We will have to go there with the same attitude that we have adopted the last two or three games.

“We have been that real hard to beat side, I think we have conceded four goals the last four games or something like that – it’s a lot better than what we have been doing.

“Hopefully we can go to Brighton and keep a clean sheet. I think we’re all dying for one, we all deserve one definitely.”