Hughton is battling one striker light
A FIRST top-flight goal and win for 34 years but Chris Hughton is well aware his Brighton side did so without the luxury of the new striker they so desperately wanted.
The newly promoted Premier League side beat West Brom because German midfielder Pascal Gross scored twice, then set up the third.
It was an awkward summer for Hughton because Brighton did not get the goalscorer they wanted.
Zurich striker Raphael Dwamena was signed for £8million then failed a medical, Tammy Abraham went to Swansea, and Spurs’ Vincent Janssen turned them down on deadline day.
It can be revealed that Brighton held a team meeting after the international break to talk about how the rest of the squad have to share the burden of scoring.
They secured their first ever Premier League goal and win courtesy of Gross, though Hughton must realise it is a long road ahead.
‘We can’t rely on our No 9s to get us goals,’ he said. ‘I can understand it (the negativity about the lack of striker signings) because we did try and it was a position we wanted to bring in and the supporters did as well. But once you get to the end of the window it is the signal to work as hard as you can with the squad you have.’
One striker they do have is Tomer Hemed, who scored their third goal and only decided to stay on deadline day. ‘I decided to compete for my place,’ he said. ‘The most important thing is to look at what we have, not what we don’t have.’
Hughton added: ‘The players would have known we were trying to bring in a striker but that is the game. It should inspire them to do as well as they can.’
Gross’s goals either side of half-time were missed by a fair few fans who left before the break to get in line for their pie and pint.
As for West Brom, this was an uncharacteristically woeful performance.
Not even Paris Saint-Germain loanee Grzegorz Krychowiak impressed as their new signing rarely ventured beyond the halfway line.
Brighton made history here but a far-from-happy manager Tony Pulis knows his team helped them.