Bong Remains Focused After Signing New Deal

Brighton & Hove Albion defender Gaetan Bong highlighted his focus to continue performing well for the team in their battle to remain in the Premier League, after signing a new contract with the Seagulls until the end of next season.

The Cameroonian has been rewarded for his performances in England’s top flight, having played 15 games for Chris Hughton’s side at left-back, and he expressed his happiness to extend his stay on the south coast.

He said, “I’m very proud to sign a new contract with the club. I think we’re doing well and I just try to bring my positivity to the team.

“I’m happy here and I thank the club for the confidence they’ve shown in me. I will do everything I can to help the team stay in this league.

“Maybe it’s harder to play when you only have a one-year deal or a couple of months left on your contract, but I never think like that because when I’m on the pitch, I just think about playing.

“When you have a longer deal for yourself and your family, of course it’s a good thing, but if you’re not good on the pitch, even if you have a long deal, football can change so quick.

“You just have to think about being good on the pitch and then everything else will come.”

The Seagulls climbed to 12th in the Premier League after last weekend’s 4-1 win over Swansea City, and although Hughton’s men are on a six-game unbeaten streak, Bong believes his team-mates can still improve.

“We’re doing well but I’m also confident that we can do better. We have good-quality players and there’s been a lot of games that we’ve drawn when we really could have won.

“But we’re learning every game and that’s why I’m glad to sign this new contract, because I want to keep working with the boys and the manager as well.

“We have to be confident. We’ve had some positive victories recently and have started to score goals and win games again.

“But we know it’s going to be hard. We still have ten games and they’re going to be ten difficult games. It’s not going to be easy because no team wants to give up.”

Bong was part of Albion’s promotion-winning squad from last season, and he identified the gulf in quality between England’s top two divisions and believes you have to adapt quickly to play in the Premier League.

“It’s completely different, a different style of football. There are more quality players with more speed [in the Premier League].

“In the Championship, it’s more about physicality and it’s a different style of football. You have to adapt to the Premier League and there are not a lot of players who can do it.

“You can’t just play the same as you did in the Championship in the Premier League, you have to change and find a way to be better, both for yourself and the team.”