Hughton: It Was A Team Effort

Brighton & Hove Albion manager Chris Hughton highlighted the tremendous team effort involved in claiming the Barclays Manager of the Month award for February.

Hughton beat off competition from Jurgen Klopp, Mauricio Pochettino, Javi Gracia and David Wagner to claim the award, and the Seagulls boss explained that everyone at the club has played a key role in the success.

He said, “The three staff that I had the photo with: Paul Trollope, Paul Nevin and Ben Roberts, have all played a big part and I would probably be here for a while to thank everyone that has helped.

“I have wonderful medical staff, analysis staff, coaching staff and the club have been tremendous in terms of what they’ve allowed me to do as regard to the transfer market.

“The recruitment process we have here is excellent, and ultimately it’s about the people at the top end like our CEO and chairman and owner. We’re in a wonderful facility here and that’s down to our owner and we have a wonderful stadium to play in too.

“We’re thankful to a lot of people, but of course it’s the players that get the results. They’ve enjoyed being in this division so far and are desperate to make sure that we stay there.”

Hughton also paid tribute to Albion’s fans after receiving the award, highlighting sell-out crowds week after week at the Amex and the fantastic support he’s received during his three years at the club so far.

“If I look at my period of time here, which has been three years, they have got better and better in that time.

“That’s down to what the players have given them, and they’ve enjoyed that. But they’ve been magnificent and we’re now playing in a full stadium of 30,000 in most home games in this division.

“They’ve turned out in their numbers and have been outstanding as well. A big thank you to them because we don’t survive as a team or as a club without their loyal support - they’ve been excellent.”

The Albion manager spoke about the side’s targets for the rest of the season and stressed that the key priority remains to secure Premier League status for the new campaign.

“It’s just to continue to making progress. Ultimately it’s to stay in this division and that’s certainly not being negative, and we would take whatever we need to make sure that we stay in this division.

“We’re having good momentum at the moment and as long as we can continue to make progress, we will be happy. Ultimately it will be about staying in this division.”