Hughton Disappointed At Missed Opportunity

Brighton & Hove Albion manager Chris Hughton was left frustrated that his team were unable to secure three points, but felt his players showed signs of improvement in an attacking sense against Bournemouth at the Amex this afternoon.

The Seagulls were twice pegged back after goals from Anthony Knockaert and Glenn Murray, and after having a number of other opportunities on the south coast, Hughton couldn’t hide his disappointment at not winning the game.

He said, “I thought we were good today. There were some areas that we needed to address, which was giving ourselves the opportunity to score goals, and I thought we were very good in that department today.

“But I’m hugely disappointed, that certainly having gone in front on a couple of occasions and in a game that we should have won, we didn’t.

“Both teams threatened but we certainly had the better clear-cut chances, and that’s what makes it more disappointing.

“We conceded again from a set-play, which is hugely disappointing, because that’s been an area where we haven't been good enough and it’s cost us.”

Jose Izquierdo impressed with two assists and almost got his name on the scoresheet after racing through on goal in the second half, and Hughton reflected on the winger’s chance and his all-round performance.

“I think he made the right choice, his last touch was a heavy touch, he’d run a long way and it probably looked like it was either going to be 3-1 to us or they were going to get back in the game.

“That was just one of the few good opportunities that we had, in what was a fairly open game at times.

“He’s still adjusting. He has particular qualities and what he can do is stretch teams in-behind, particularly with the way we play, and we need those outlets.

“Overall, not just his offensive play, his work for the team was excellent today.”

Albion moved onto 23 points from 22 Premier League games this season, and Hughton gave his thoughts on his team’s current points tally, after playing their first game of 2018.

“It’s a decent base but probably right at this moment, the feeling is that we should be on two points more.

“Our overall performances in this first half of the season, going into the second half, have been very decent.

“But teams will get stronger and teams that haven't done as well in the first half of the season will endeavour to do better.

“We certainly don’t think the second half of the season will be any less difficult than the first half has been.”