Chris Hughton was disappointed to see Brighton failed to achieve qualification play-off final after a 1-1 draw with Sheffield Wednesday in the second leg.
A 2-0 loss in the first leg meant that his team were knocked out 3-1 on aggregate. The defeat was especially hard to take considering that Brighton missed out on the automatic promotion spots on goal difference, while they also finished 15 points ahead of Wednesday in the league table. Brighton were only two goals behind Middlesbrough in the goal difference stakes after a draw in the final game of the season.
Hughton has received a lot of praise for turning around the fortunes of the seagulls, but his major task comes ahead in the summer. He will have to motivate his players once again in order to fight next campaign. This will be the hardest part especially given that Brighton came so close to getting to the Premier League. Momentum and confidence always plays a major role when it comes to play-offs. Sheffield Wednesday seem to have more of it especially after their win over Cardiff City to secure the final play-off spot. Brighton, meanwhile, had just failed to achieve automatic promotion after having been one of the best teams in the division throughout the campaign.
“Yes, it is a tough night because I didn’t think it was a correct scoreline, I thought we had the better chances.Unfortunately for us, we’ve gone through a period in the last few games where things have gone against us either with decisions or injuries but I’ve got a group of players in there who have been magnificent all season.They were never out of that top six and in that top three for most of the season and what they have got to do is use this as inspiration,” said Hughton.