Tony Pulis Admits There Are Excuses for Brighton Defeat But He Won't Use Them to Justify Performance

West Brom manager Tony Pulis has admitted that his side did not deserve victory against Brighton on Saturday, and although insisting he did not want to make excuses for his side's performance he did point to the international break as a key reason for the loss.

The Baggies unbeaten start to the Premier League season came to a grinding halt against the Seagulls' as their usual organised and solid set-up behind the ball was disjointed and riddled with mistakes.

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A reason for such a poor display was credited to the taxing international commitments from a number of members of the squad, although Pulis did admit that Brighton were the better team on the day regardless.

Following the 3-1 loss on Saturday, Pulis said,via the Birmingham Mail: “There’s all sorts of excuses I could make.

“Let’s just say today Brighton were better than us and keep it at that.

"I don't want to stand here making excuses because Brighton deserved to win, but several of our players looked tired out there, having had some tough travel in the last week or so.

Although he did add: “The fact some of them hadn’t come back [from internationals]. The centre-half has played in Uganda and Egypt. The centre-forward has played in Argentina and Venezuela.

“Quite a few of the others have been around the world a few times. They looked a bit tired and jaded today.

“The only training session we’ve had is Thursday. So it’s difficult at times. And then you get an away trip and it’s difficult to get in that spot you need to win Premier League games.

West Brom did manage to secure a late consolation goal from James Morrison however, Pulis admitted it was too little too late as the timing of Brighton's goals were simply too much to overcome.

He added: "To concede a goal just before half-time and a minute after half-time is a real kick in the goolies for you and it gave them a massive lift.

"The second goal is a poor goal and that kills us, and going 3-0 down puts the icing on the cake for what we've done. We livened up at the end but we had nothing to lose by then, so I'm not good for giving praise when we're 3-0 down."