Club news

Ryan: We're Riding A Wave Of Confidence

By Kieran Cleeves • 06 March 2018

Brighton & Hove Albion goalkeeper Mathew Ryan highlighted the wave on confidence his team-mates are currently riding, as they moved seven points clear of the relegation zone with an impressive 2-1 win over Arsenal on Sunday.

First-half goals from Lewis Dunk and Glenn Murray secured all three points on the south coast, and Ryan spoke about the confidence felt within the squad before the game against the Gunners at the Amex Stadium.

He said, “We have the ability to produce performances like the one we did. In the first game against them, we lacked a bit of confidence and conviction - but we’re riding a wave at the moment.

“Everybody went into the game quietly confident. As long as we stuck to the things we’d been working on recently, we knew we could take the game to them.

“It was disappointing to concede the way that we did, because I didn’t really have much to do in that first half. But we were resilient in the second half and thankfully got the three points.

“It’s just about the little details and we were much better with those details [against Arsenal] and got what we deserved.”

Albion broke the deadlock early on at the Amex, as Dunk fired home from inside the penalty area, and Ryan joked about the defender’s goalscoring exploits this season, before praising the rest of his team-mates.

“When he scored I had to double check it was him! I had a little thought to myself and thought ‘thank god, he’s managed to score at the other end’.

“It’s always vitally important when you get an early goal in a game. On top of that as well, it’s one of very few goals we’ve scored from a set-piece.

“We scored from that one and get a strong hold of the game. We managed to get a second goal and was probably unlucky to not get a third or a fourth one.

“Our resilience has been there from day one since I arrived, and also from long before that from what I’ve heard. Our players throw their bodies everywhere and we were really well organised in defence.”