Hughton Defiant After Cardiff Loss

Chris Hughton is confident Brighton can avoid relegation despite suffering a disastrous 2-0 home defeat against fellow strugglers Cardiff City.

Brighton’s fourth successive league defeat without scoring leaves them anxiously looking over their shoulders going into a tough run-in which includes games against Tottenham, Arsenal and Manchester City.

After making a bright start to the match, the Seagulls failed to bounce back from being thrashed 5-0 by Bournemouth on Saturday and were jeered off by the home crowd.

Albion manager Chris Hughton admits his under-performing players are suffering a crisis of confidence but feels they can recover to retain their top-flight status. “At the minute, it’s a big blow and a bad week,” said Hughton. “I do believe we will stay up because I have to.

It’s very much in our own hands. “It’s been a really bad week, and it’s not a nice feeling at the moment, but we have to use that in whichever way that we can because we need to make sure we get enough points to stay in this division. “Confidence is an issue, yes. That’s normal. When you’re not winning games, it knocks your confidence.”