Brighton & Hove Albion manager Chris Hughton urged his players to implement their Premier League knowledge on the game this afternoon, when top-flight newcomers Fulham arrive at the Amex Stadium.
The Cottagers gained promotion to the Premier League via the play-offs last season, and with one campaign of Premier League experience under their belts, Hughton wants the Seagulls to tame Slavisa Jokanovic’s strengthened side.
He said, “The pressure is using that Premier League experience from last season to good effect against a team that have just come up. They’re carrying the excitement of playing in this division.
“Our crowd have been exceptional since I’ve been here, but if you look at last season, our supporters were probably at their best, and that was the excitement of playing in the Premier League.
“Of course, the Fulham supporters have been there already, it’s not so new to a lot of them, but they’ll have that same excitement this season.
“They’re the balances. We’ve got to make sure that when we’re playing the promoted teams, we use our experience from last season as much as we can.”
This afternoon’s visitors spent heavily in the summer transfer window, and Hughton highlighted the ambition shown by the London club, before speaking about Albion’s transfer activity ahead of their debut season in the top flight.
“Fulham have a huge desire to do well in the Premier League - that shows in the amount of players they brought in.
“They certainly showed their intent over the summer and they obviously felt that was what they needed to make a mark in the Premier League.
“For what one promoted club are prepared to spend, it can be completely different to what another club is prepared to spend.
“Our feeling was that we needed to add to the squad, but we’d had a fairly consistent team over the past couple of seasons.
“We added to the squad after getting promoted, but we felt we already had a number of players who could step up to this level.”
After positive performances against Manchester United and Liverpool, the Seagulls play their final game before the international break, and Hughton assessed the quality of his team’s displays so far.
“If we take out the midweek game against Southampton - even though there were a lot of aspects I was happy with - we’re on the back of two very good performances in the league.
“I was pleased with our performance against Manchester United, and probably even more so against Liverpool at Anfield - a place which has been very difficult for most teams to go to.
“To come close [to getting a draw], it showed our levels. We’ve been able to raise our levels over the past couple of games and certainly use our experience.”
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