Manager Chris Hughton has described Brighton’s victory over Blackburn Rovers on Tuesday as being ‘thoroughly deserved’ given the performance of the players.
Heading to Ewood Park for the midweek Championship action, goals from Shane Duffy and Dale Stephens gave us the two nil lead, but with 25 minutes left to play Blackburn eeked a goal back to set up an interesting end before Glenn Murray added our third with just over 10 minutes of normal time remaining.
Not to be outdone Sam Gallagher went and got his brace with a stoppage time effort, but with Blackburn down to ten men, the result wasn’t really in question.
It was that element that pleased Hughton as he spoke to the Official Site in his post game press conference – but he did admit we could’ve made the game easier on ourselves at the end.
‘The only disappointment is we made it harder than it should`ve been. I thought we had good control at times, but in that first-half period we probably gave the ball away too often against a strong side that we knew were going to play quite direct. But as the game opened up, I thought we were by far the better side and when it went to 3-1, it should`ve stayed at 3-1. To allow them to get that second goal was probably the only disappointment for me.’
With Duffy’s 16th minute strike he obviously came in for praise, but mainly for his growing partnership with Lewis Dunk in the heart of defence.
‘They`re looking strong and it would`ve been nice if they were part of a back four and a goalkeeper that didn`t concede, but they`ve been strong and have been all season. At the moment we`ve got good options, a lot of fit players and really good competition for places. I hope it stays that way.’
For Duffy’s strike specifically, he added about the former Blackburn player.
‘For some reason these things seem to happen. He’s been very good for us, Shane, from the day that he came and he’s certainly added very much to what we already have.’
With the three points and victory putting us top of the Championship table on Tuesday evening – and now we await Newcastle United’s result as they play later tonight – Hughton said that whilst he could only pick holes in our recent performances given how well we’ve done, those holes mean there’s plenty of room for improvement and that’s what everybody will be working on moving forward.
‘We learned last season how tough this Championship can be and particularly in a week where you can have three games, you can lose as easily as you can win. You have to keep on your game and fortunately for us we`re playing at a good level, which we have to maintain. At the moment we`ve got it but we can play better. We`re picking up results and we need to keep doing that.’
Hughton also more than conceded that despite us jumping ahead of them last night, Newcastle United remain favourites for top spot.
‘I can understand it and I would probably say the same thing about Newcastle. It’s because of the squad they’ve got, I’ve not seen a squad as strong as what they’ve got. I’m reasonably sure if we or anybody can stay close to them, they will put themselves in a very good position.’
