Baleba has been kept out of the Cameroon squad due to a knee issue and says that he and the rest of the Seagulls squad are using the week to rest and recover.
The 20 year old entered the City game at half time as the Seagulls performed an epic comeback to make it 2-1 against the champions who have now lost four games on the bounce.
“I am so happy to get this trophy," said Baleba after being named man-of-the-match. "It is my first and I hope to get more. The first half was not easy but we were still able to create chances.
“It wasn’t bad, we had to continue. We lifted our heads. We had done some good things but we needed to step up the level.
“In the second half, when I went on, I tried, with my team-mates, to keep the ball more, to be patient, to wait for spaces, to create imbalances and get in front of goal.
“We were patient with our game, we got in behind and that led to chances so we could end the match at 2-1.”
On match sharpness he says the side are heading in the right direction and will only perform better after a week’s rest.
“We are going in the right direction with this start to the season.
“We are going to rest during the break, to come back even stronger for the matches in December.”