Brighton manager Chris Hughton has said we need to be wary of Crystal Palace because he feels things are coming together for them under Roy Hodgson.
Meeting with the media for his pre game press conference ahead of tonight’s clash at the Amex, Hughton covered a number of topics, and here’s what he had to say to the Official Site.
Opening with thoughts on Glenn Murray and facing off against his former club.
‘We`ll certainly need Glenn to keep going with the form that he`s in. He`s been very good for us and he`s intelligent enough to know the emotions that can come from this type of game. Glenn`s experienced enough to know he`s got to divorce himself from that. We need calm heads and we need him to do the role that he`s done for us since coming back into the team. To win this fixture you`ve got to score goals, so we`ll need somebody like Glenn to be at the forefront of that.’
Moving thoughts to Palace more specifically, Hughton felt we couldn’t read too much into their away form and the fact they haven’t scored any goals on their travels so far this year.
‘You can`t afford to read anything into it – no goals scored. They’ve got quality players. I`ve seen them play on four occasions this season and they`ve been very good in all four of those games. I can only presume it`s because of the margins that happen in the game. Sometimes winning games and losing games can come down to momentum and rhythm. They have a very good team and some very good individuals – I have no doubt that they`ll start climbing up the league table.’
As for Roy Hodgson slowly starting to turn them around.
‘I know Roy Hodgson very well and you don`t become England manager unless you`re a top manager. They`ve brought somebody in with vast experience, but with that experience comes incredible enthusiasm. Anybody that`s seen Roy work on the training pitch will have seen that first-hand. They`ve got an excellent manager at the helm to guide them towards better times.’
Turning attentions back to Brighton, he spoke about the home crowd and how he knew the home support was even more vibrant following promotion.
‘The atmosphere at the Amex has got better and better in my time here. It`s become a more vocal stadium since playing in the Premier League. It`s natural that when you`re playing against your rivals, that goes up another notch. But generally, that goes up another notch if they like what they`re seeing or if we`re in a favourable position. We can`t expect a group of supporters to be vocal and loud if they don`t like what they`re seeing from their team – so we`ll have to make sure that isn`t the case.’
