BRIGHTON UP!
Hemed tells fans to stop worrying and do what he did – have faith that Seagulls have the firepower to stay in the Prem
TOMER HEMED has claimed Brighton have the firepower to stay in the top flight this season, despite failing to bring in a striker
The Seagulls spent the closing days of the transfer window desperately seeking reinforcements up front.
They tried to sign a long list of forwards, including,Tammy Abraham, FC Zurich star Raphael Dwamena, Kenneth Zohore and Vincent Janssen, and have to wait until January to bring in Sweden Under-19 striker Viktor Gyokeres.
Even chairman Tony Bloom admitted in his programme notes that the failure to beef up the forward line had left him “very disappointed”.
But on Saturday midfielder Pascal Gross scored twice and Hemed netted a neat header to give renewed hope that the Seagulls, who had gone three Premier League games without a goal, can win their seasonlong relegation battle.
Chris Hughton’s side outthought and outfought a West Brom team judged to have had a good transfer window.
Hemed, who scored 17 goals last season, had the offer to return to the Championship with Reading but decided to stay on the south coast.
“Everyone knew the situation,” he said. “No-one was really sure what was going to happen. But during the last day of the transfer window I decided to stay and compete for my place in the starting XI.
“All the strikers we heard about – none of them came.
“But the most important thing is to look at what we have, not what we don’t have.
“The strikers we already have at the club are good enough to lead the team and to score goals. I’m happy I scored and helped the team to a win we deserved.
“I’m aware that people have doubted we are strong enough up front but, if you look at the last two seasons, we scored a lot of goals.
“I couldn’t understand why people were so worried. Obviously we want to have a big squad and a good team but we know who is here now until January and the players who are here now are the best players for the club.”
Brighton defender Lewis Dunk echoed Hemed’s words.
“It’s down to us,” said Dunk. “We had a chat the other day after the window closed and said: ‘We are the ones here now, no-one else will be doing it for us now’.”
Gross, Brighton’s first signing of the summer back in May, scored the club’s first top-flight goal for 34 years on the stroke of half-time – and then added a second from distance two minutes after the break. And the German set up Hemed for his 63rd-minute header.
James Morrison scored for West Brom, who were curiously flat and lifeless.
Brighton will not face many poorer sides this season but boss Hughton said: “It feels like a big win. We have to make sure we take this on.”