Hughton admits Brighton will be punished at Tottenham if they're not on their game

Brighton manager Chris Hughton admits his side will be punished if they're not on their game at Wembley against Tottenham tomorrow.
Glenn Murray in action against Stoke last month. Picture by Phil Westlake (PW Sporting Photography)Glenn Murray in action against Stoke last month. Picture by Phil Westlake (PW Sporting Photography)
Glenn Murray in action against Stoke last month. Picture by Phil Westlake (PW Sporting Photography)

The Seagulls have slipped to 13th in the Premier League ahead of tomorrow's trip to Wembley, while Spurs eased to a 5-1 win against Stoke at the weekend.

Hughton said: "They're on the back of a very good performance against a very good side in Stoke, so we'll have to do enough good things on the day to stay in the game, so we are able to give a good account of yourselves.

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"They fall into the category of all the top six teams that if you're not on it on the day, you can get punished and punished big.

"We've got to look forward to the challenge. It's a place where a large majority of our players haven't played before and that's the wonderful challenge for them."

Hughton wants his side to remain level-headed after a run of just two points from five matches.

After a disappointing 2-0 defeat at Huddersfield on Saturday, Hughton said: "What we have tried to do through the season so far, which has gone quite well for us, is make sure everybody is level headed, mostly the players, but everybody around the club and connected to the club.

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"We know how difficult this division is and you know you're going to have difficult periods. It shows how well we have started in our levels the fact we have lost two on the bounce and we're looking at it as a difficult period.

"This is going to happen. It's happened to lots of teams around us and that's what the challenges of this division are.

"Perhaps over the past couple of seasons when this happened, you're very confident you will bounce back in the next game. But in this division, your next game could be a very difficult one and you've got to show you accept what the division is, have learned from it and do your best in the next game."

Albion have 17 points from 16 games and reflecting on the start, Hughton said: "You always want more. Do I wish we had more points? Yes. Do we deserve more points? Probably not because whatever points you have, you have to earn them.

"We've showed enough already this season that if we can play at a level and at our best, there are certain teams we can very much compete with."