Chris Hughton Believes Brighton Were the 'Better Team' Despite 1-0 Defeat to Burnley

Brighton manager Chris Hughton thought his side were the 'better team' despite suffering a 1-0 defeat to Burnley at Turf Moor this weekend.

In what was a close encounter, James Tarkowski's third league goal of the season five minutes before half-time proved to be the winner, bringing an end to the Seagulls' three-game unbeaten run.

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Despite the result, Hughton is of the belief that his side was the better of the two, and that a lack of quality in the final third proved to cost them come full-time. 

Speaking post-match to Sky Sports, he said: "It's disappointing because I thought we were the better team. Probably what we weren't able to do was capitalise on our good play, particularly in that final third, but you're up against a team that are fighting hard and they had to defend well.

"But I thought we were the better team on and had the best chance of the game through (Jurgen) Locadia [who headed over the crossbar in the 83rd minute].

"Yes, it was a scrappy goal, but we've got to do more in the final third. If we're a team that in some places and in some games can have good enough possession like we did today, the only way you can capitalise on it is by scoring goals."

Brighton drop one place to 11th in the Premier League following the defeat, which is their 

seventh in the league this season, with six of those coming away from the Amex Stadium. 

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While the result didn't match his side's performance in the eyes of Hughton, the Brighton boss hopes they can match that level in their next game against Chelsea. 

He added: "The positive is the level of performance was good. We had a defeat a few games ago where we couldn't argue because our level of performance didn't deserve to get anything more than we got, but I thought we deserved more today."