Brighton & Hove Albion goalkeeper Maty Ryan believes that the side should be confident of continuing their strong home form when they host Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday evening at the Amex Stadium.
The Australian international pointed to Albion’s previous results against top six teams on the south coast as being crucial in giving the team belief against Mauricio Pochettino’s men this weekend.
He said, “You have to respect their qualities, but not too much because they’re coming to our home ground and the Amex Stadium is a place where we’ve been strong over the last year.
“We need to be confident and take the game to them – if we produce our best levels and play as well as I know we can, then I back us to get a result.”
“We drew with them last season at the Amex Stadium and have beaten some big sides at home – our past experiences like that will give us belief.
“Whoever comes to the Amex will be given a tough afternoon – I have full confidence that we’ll learn from the last few weeks and be ready from the get go.”
Monday night’s 2-2 draw with Southampton at St Mary’s saw the side pick up their first away league point of the campaign, and the goalkeeper reflected honestly on the contest.
“It was a bit of a frustrating game to be honest because I didn’t feel like Southampton had many chances over the course of the game.
“We blocked some in the first half, but apart from a few situations, they didn’t have much.
“Luckily overall I’ve done my bit for the team when I needed to and helped the side get a point.”
The side came from two goals down to secure a point for the second time in as many Premier League matches thanks to goals from Shane Duffy and Glenn Murray, but Ryan emphasised his belief that the team can perform better than they did in the stalemate earlier this week.
“I’m a perfectionist and I know what we’re capable of, but that also means I know when we fall short of that.
“I think we’re not sustaining the standards and benchmark that we’ve set throughout full games at the moment.
“We’re not being as clinical as we know we can be at either end of the pitch at the moment, and I hate not winning – when we do get three points it gives me a real spring in my step.”