Graham Potter takes charge of the Seagulls in the top flight for the first time this weekend against Watford at Vicarage Road, and the Irish defender believes the side can use their new approaches to their advantage.
He said, “They [Watford] did well last year, and they were a bit of a surprise package to a lot of people in the league."
“They haven’t changed much so we know what to expect from them, whereas perhaps they don’t know too much about us at this stage, so hopefully we can use that to our advantage.
“It’s a fresh start for us and teams don’t really know too much about that — we’ve been working on different systems. The head coach wants to attack and get bodies in the box, he’s just trying to get us higher up the pitch and press teams more.”
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Javi Gracia’s men are Albion's first opponents of the new campaign — the same fixture the Seagulls began their season with last term.
Duffy says that it will still take time to adapt and develop to the new head coach’s ideas, but believes their new flexibility will allow them to make good progress over the course of the campaign.
“We have to take things step by step because we’re not the finished article, we’re still working hard and we’ve had another full week going into the new season,” he continued.
“It’s going to take time and it’s a different kettle of fish in the Premier League, but we’ll take it game by game and hopefully it will go well.
“For us it’s about being adaptable, I’ve played in a three-man defence here so far this pre-season and so it’s about getting used to that and other systems too.”
The defender has scored three goals in recent pre-season victories over Birmingham City and Valencia. He spoke about his desire to regularly find the back of the net, as well as praising the exploits of summer arrival Leandro Trossard.
“I don’t want to use my goals up too early! I’m always confident I can score, I might go a few games without getting one, and of course that’s frustrating because I feel I can score in every game.
“The deliveries have been spot on recently, Leandro [Trossard] is very talented. He brushes off challenges really nicely and we all hope he can hit the ground running in the league now.
“There are different demands in England, it’s about being patient, but it has been a good start for him here so far.”