Club news

Rusk Praises Character After Late Leveller

By Kieran Cleeves • 25 September 2018

Brighton & Hove Albion under-23 coach Simon Rusk praised his team for showing the resilience to equalise in the closing stages against Leicester City, as the Seagulls continued their unbeaten league start with a 2-2 draw at Holmes Park.

Aaron Connolly salvaged a point in second-half stoppage time against the Foxes, and Rusk was impressed by his side’s ability to deal with pressure and produce in front of goal in the dying stages of the match.

He said, “Once again, I thought the boys showed great character. They stuck in at times when they needed to stick in there.

“At 2-1, Leicester had all the momentum and put our box under a lot of pressure. Fair play to them for that.

“But I felt we stood strong and got ourselves back into the game. From our point of view, I’m looking at that and the character we showed, and I think we deserved our equaliser.

“We were a little bit disappointed that we had to absorb so much pressure after half-time, and from our point of view we believe the goals we conceded were preventable.

“But you don’t always get the rub of the green. The boys had to ride that storm and it was good for their learning.

“We’ve done this before and fair play to them - they showed character and got themselves back in the game right at the death.”

Albion remain the only team unbeaten in the Premier League 2 Division 1, and Rusk highlighted the consistency levels that his players must keep reaching throughout the season.

“One of the messages before the game was that we needed to show consistent levels - both with the ball and without it.

“If the players can show that level of consistency, we’re never going to be too far from a positive performance and result.

“We’ve just got to keep going, keep trying to improve the things that we want to be good at and see where it takes us.”