POTTER: TARGETS CAN DRIVE PLAYERS POTTY

GRAHAM POTTER claims that setting targets for his players over the coming weeks would be crazy.

Brighton have nine games to save their Premier League skin, and a tough-looking resumption kicks off against Arsenal at the Amex this afternoon.

They then face three of the top five – Leicester, Manchester United and Liverpool – with a relegation clash at Norwich sandwiched in between. As a result, the Brighton manager is refusing to predict where he feels his team will be able to pick up the points they need.

“You can drive yourself mad predicting the future or hoping what will happen or setting little mini targets,” said Potter (right).

“We just have to focus on the game, focus on the next match, do as well as we can – try to win, and if we can’t win, pick up something.

“That’s got to be the mentality. The job is to pick up points as we go along, the more we get the better.

“Of course it would be nice to pick up points – it would be nice to have nine from the next three games. But we can’t really worry too much about what we may or may not get in the next three, four or five games. You’ve just got to simplify it really.”

Only one thing is crazier than setting targets claims the Brighton boss – and that is thinking about the repercussions of failing to achieve their aim of survival.

“If it does not go well it is a setback, obviously,” said Potter. “We are aware of that and aware of the responsibility that we have.

“Nobody has a god-given right to be in this competition, in this league, so you have to fight for it.

“The challenge and the reward is part of the job. At the same time we would not be doing our job properly if we were not focusing on the games themselves, and trying to get the points

we need.”