Rusk: We'll Show Pagham Respect

Brighton & Hove Albion under-23 coach Simon Rusk insists his team will show Pagham the respect they deserve when the sides face off for a place in the final of the Parafix Sussex Senior Cup this evening at Culver Road.

The Seagulls will look to continue their defence of the trophy in tonight’s semi-final against the Southern Combination Premier Division side, and Rusk highlighted his team’s desire to reach another final at the Amex Stadium.

He said, “It’s important to us, it’s one of our priorities at the start of the season - we want to try and win the tournament every year and that hasn’t changed.

“Getting to the final would be pleasing. It would represent another facet of our season, which we’d view as a success if we were able to go on and win it.

“We’ll treat Pagham with the utmost respect, we’ll do our homework on them because it’s a game we want to win.

“We’ll know a decent amount about them as a side and will implement a game plan off the back of that.”

Albion have beaten East Preston, Haywards Heath Town and Whitehawk en route to reaching the final four of the competition, and Rusk reflected on the testing nature of playing games in the Sussex Senior Cup.

“They’ve been varied and challenging. They’re very different types of games to what we usually face in the under-23 league.

“But that’s great - anything that takes the boys into slightly different environments and out of their comfort zone is a good thing.

“All of the sides we’ve played have offered a different type of challenge. Some of the county league sides that we’ve faced have got players who have played a decent level of football.

“That’s the beauty of Britain - there’s so many different levels and tiers of football, and even when you trickle right down, there are decent teams and players.

“It’s good for our boys to understand and appreciate that.”