Hughton's Praise For Murray's Winner

Brighton & Hove Albion manager Chris Hughton praised Glenn Murray following his winning goal in the 1-0 victory over Middlesbrough on Saturday.

Murray came off the bench to score a 90th-minute winner on Teesside, and Hughton felt that it may have taken a moment of fortune to settle the contest.

He said, “We’ve found goals hard to come by, and it was probably going to take a special goal, a mistake, or a bit of luck, and we certainly got that bit of luck with the goal.

“With all strikers, you want them to be in there to anticipate a mistake and it was a very good cross into the box in the first place.

“It’s a typical poacher’s goal. Good strikers or good goalscorers are in the right place at the right time.”

The Albion manager believes that the win will give the whole squad a boost, but stressed the focus shall quickly be on Wednesday’s Premier League match at Southampton.

“The lads were off on Sunday and there will be a better feel amongst the squad on Monday, even with those that weren’t involved.

“The only ones that didn’t travel were Maty Ryan, Shane Duffy, Bongy, Bruno and Solly.

“Everyone else was involved and we had a strong bench, so the players will feel better after the result. But they’ll be quickly tuned into Wednesday’s game.”

The Seagulls boss is now looking forward to the fifth round draw on Monday, and admits that a positive result like this is appreciated more given the increased level of quality in the Premier League.

“When you’re at a club like ours, you know that it’s going to be a tough season and that you’ll have more bad days than good days.

“That’s normal for a team in our position in the league, so you look forward to every good day and it’s good to come out of a changing room that’s buoyant and looking forward to the draw. Probably at the end, we deserved it.”