Manager Chris Hughton has given his thoughts following victory over Cardiff City on Tuesday evening.
Hosting Neil Warnock’s side at the Amex Stadium for the Championship tie on Tuesday, Brighton took the one nil victory courtesy of a late strike from Tomer Hemed and with our breakthrough not coming until the 73rd minute of the game, speaking to the Official Site in his post game press conference, Hughton knew it had been a long time coming but he praised the side for showing the right amount of patience and control until the deadlock was broken.
‘We had to be very patient and look for those opportunities; there weren`t many, and we had to make sure we defended well when they had their good periods. It was one of those games that could have ended up 0-0, we certainly got into better areas and had better possession, but they defended very well. They had a lot of free kicks into the box, but we were just looking for that one moment of creativity and fortunately we got it. I was delighted for him (Hemed), he`s looked very sharp in training for quite some time now, so I`m pleased for him and we needed him today.’
With possession on the day clearly ours, Hughton went on to admit that despite that possession we had to work incredibly hard to break down a tough opposition on the day and he praised their defensive work in the process.
‘We were up against a very resilient Cardiff side that battled hard and probably for a lot of the game, played 4-5-1 and made it very difficult for us. It`s part and parcel of the game, and probably after we scored, they were a little bit frustrated by us trying to slow the game down. Yes, you do get frustrated, but it`s about trying to keep possession as much as you can and not giving the opposition any encouragement to get the balls into the areas that they want to. These are very tough games, and we were up against another good side, but we found a way and I thought it was an excellent finish.’
The three points put us back above Newcastle United in top spot in the Championship and also moved us 11 points clear of Reading in third place, but the gaffer knew there was still a hell of a long way to go.
‘We`ve always said that if we keep as close to Newcastle as possible, then we`ll have a chance. But it probably isn`t about us and Newcastle at the moment, it`s about that gap to third place. We`re going into a period where there`s a lot of games, a lot of midweek games, and we know a bad week can be the difference between nine points, six points or no points. We know that there`s some real quality behind us at the moment that are really pushing, and it’s days like today that hit home that you can`t afford to have a bad day, because anyone can beat you. But it`s a nice feeling at the moment and we look forward to the FA Cup on Saturday (Lincoln).’
