Club news

Ryan: Dunk And Duffy Are Best In The League

By James Hilsum • 28 October 2018

Brighton & Hove Albion goalkeeper Maty Ryan hailed another outstanding performance from centre-back pairing Lewis Dunk and Shane Duffy in Saturday’s 1-0 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers.
 
Dunk and Duffy provided another resolute display in the heart of the Seagulls defence, and Ryan led the plaudits for the duo after they played a huge part in securing a third consecutive victory.
 
He said, “They are a major reason why my job is so easy. I don’t know if I’ve ever played with two players that defend with such desperation and get so many blocks in.
 
“I can’t think of a better defensive duo and if they keep performing as they are, there’s no reason why they couldn’t play for a top team.
 
“A big adjustment of my game when I arrived was getting used to how deep the defensive line is that we play here, and I quickly learned to let them deal with any balls that came into the box.
 
“At this level it’s important to make the right decisions and I try to pick up the scraps for them, but let them deal with the big bodies and balls that come into the box. They deal with it 99.9% of the time and I’ll deal with it the other 0.01%.”
 
The Australian also praised Glenn Murray for scoring his 100th goal for the club and made a point to celebrate the striker’s impressive achievement by running the full length of the pitch.
 
“I clocked before the game that it would be his 100th goal if he scored, so I had it in my mind to go down there and congratulate him in person.
 
“It’s always good to celebrate a goal with the team. I love winning and keeping clean sheets, and there’s no better feeling than getting three on the bounce.”
 
The Seagulls shot-stopper made a fine one-handed reaction save deep into stoppage time to keep Albion’s narrow lead intact, and he praised goalkeeping coach Ben Roberts for his constant support every day on the training pitch.
 
“I reacted to the situation that unfolded. I don’t remember how the ball got there, but it came from the right-hand side across the left, the ball was cut back and I moved across my goal to get a hand to it.
 
“Credit goes to Ben Roberts for the day-to-day work he does to keep us on top of our game and even more so in his approach to every match with the pictures he paints for us.
 
“We worked hard in the build up to this game to get in mind what we’re facing, and when the ball was in that wide area, we already knew they like to get it wide and get crosses in along the ground.
 
“We had that on Saturday and I was able to keep that one out for the team.”