Club news

Murray: The Crowd Will Play A Part

By James Hilsum • 28 March 2019

Brighton & Hove Albion striker Glenn Murray is hoping for another raucous atmosphere at the Amex when Southampton visit on Saturday.

The Seagulls frontman highlighted the importance of a loud crowd in a game against one of the club’s rivals to beat the drop.

He said, “I expect the crowd to get behind us like they did against Huddersfield, especially towards the end. I think that is what we need.

“As far as it being tense, I think the tensest game would have been Huddersfield. That was when we felt it was really a must-win.

“We feel this is a mustn’t-lose game. It’s a huge game for us, a team down there in and around us.

“Obviously if we can take points off them, it pegs them back as much as it propels us forward, so we win on both counts.”

“We then go to another fixture on Wednesday night away at Chelsea, which is a tough fixture.

“But Chelsea aren’t in their richest vein of form so it is another opportunity to get some points.”

Albion’s last Premier League outing came in the form of a 2-1 win away at Crystal Palace, on a day which also saw fellow survival rivals Cardiff City, Southampton and Newcastle United all claim three points.

Murray admits that took some gloss off an otherwise memorable day, but believes the feeling would’ve been worse for Cardiff, who are looking to claw themselves out of the bottom three.

“Speaking from experience, there is nothing worse than when you’re down there and you win and you come off and you look at the results and everyone else has won around you.

“It sort of almost knocks the stuffing out of you, even though you have won. I know how Cardiff would have felt when they saw everyone win around them.

“It’s tough but that is the way it happens. It can work both ways. If you see someone lose the early game, it gives you a great opportunity to widen the gap.

“If they win, the pressure is on you to keep up.”

Murray admits the significance of the Southampton game is similar to Huddersfield, and is eager to ease any nerves from the crowd on Saturday.

“I think people were possibly a little bit tense. We knew the magnitude of the game and this weekend will be similar.

“But listen, we won against Huddersfield and that’s all we need to do against Southampton.

“Hopefully it pans out that way. We are the home team and that gives us a slight advantage.”