Chris Hughton Claims Brighton Have Put Themselves Under 'More Pressure' After Southampton Defeat

Brighton manager Chris Hughton has claimed his side have put themselves under 'more pressure' to avoid relegation from the Premier League following their 1-0 defeat to Southampton.

In a game of very few clear-cut opportunities, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg scored the game's only goal for the Saints eight minutes after the interval, as the Seagulls were subjected to their sixth league defeat in their last nine games. 

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Speaking after the game, as quoted by Sky Sports, Hughton insisted that his side's sole focus now will be looking to bounce back in their midweek game against Chelsea, rather than their FA Cup semi-final against Manchester City next weekend.

He said: "We've got a lot of work to do to make sure we stay in this division. 

"Today has done us no favours. It was a really big opportunity, particularly being at home, to increase that gap a bit more. It puts a bit more pressure on us. I knew we were in a battle before the game and if anything that has slightly hardened that.

"My thoughts at this moment are not on the cup tie and I don't expect any of our players to be thinking about it either. Players are playing for places every game and I need to see a lot of what I like on Wednesday first."

The defeat at the Amex Stadium sees Brighton remain 15th in the table, although they have been joined by Southampton on 33 points - five above Cardiff in 18th, as the threat of relegation remains a very real prospect for the south coast side. 

Hughton also pointed to his side's lack of cutting edge in the final third as one reason for the loss, with the hosts recording just one shot on target in the game.

He added: "I thought they were better than us. They were more threatening in the final third. We had defended well and went through the first half without them having any really good chances.

"That was probably the tale of the game. The one or two chances they had - a really good counter-attack for the goal - and that was the difference between the two teams.

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"We never really threatened the goalkeeper enough and I can't remember him (Angus Gunn) having to make too many saves. We didn't play at a level that was going to win us the game - particularly at home."