Irish Daily Mirror

We’re not Seagullibl­e

Dunk: We’ll succeed next season even if we lose Bissouma

- Mac Allister BY JAMES NURSEY 3 42 pen, Trossard

70, 86

LEWIS DUNK is certain Brighton can thrive again next season even if they lose star midfielder Yves Bissouma.

The Seagulls captain was in upbeat mood after this emphatic win at Wolves secured the club’s best-ever Premier League points tally with three games still to play.

And Dunk believes the team have improved this campaign despite the £50million sale of Ben White to Arsenal in July.

Big clubs are again circling, this time for Mali internatio­nal Bissouma whose contract runs out at the end of next term.

But Dunk is confident there is a ready-made replacemen­t in Moises Caicedo. The powerful Ecuador central midfielder was exceptiona­l again on his fifth successive start having spent the first half of the season on loan at Belgian club KFCO

Beerschot-wilrijk.

Asked about Bissouma’s future, Dunk said: “I hope we keep the team together and keep pushing on.

“But we have the depth in the squad to fill in and boys have stepped up.

“If the time comes and boys move on, like Ben

White last year, I was buzzing for him. We lost one but we have other people as back-up to come in and perform.

“Moises Caicedo has waited for his opportunit­y and the last few games has been outstandin­g. That just shows what we have at this club.

“We’ve great work ethic and togetherne­ss on the training pitch, which gives us our foundation­s. That’s the only reason he’s been able to perform like that - we work so hard on the training pitch.”

Graham Potter’s men capitalise­d on a lacklustre display from Wolves. Alexis Mac Allister missed a penalty but made no mistake with a second spot-kick late in the first half .

Excellent late finishes from Leandro Trossard and Bissouma ensured a comfortabl­e win.

Wolves, who have now lost three matches in a row without scoring, rarely threatened until sub Pedro Neto hit a post in stoppage time. They were booed off but Albion are finishing strongly.

Dunk (above) added: “It was nice to be comfortabl­e for once and get to the end of the game not panicking, having to scrap and defend the box. We’re all confident with each other and that is why we have done so well this year.”

 ?? ?? BRIGHT SPARK Boss Potter hails his in-demand midfield star Yves Bissouma
BRIGHT SPARK Boss Potter hails his in-demand midfield star Yves Bissouma

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