Hughton ready for the Kop fear factor

CHRIS HUGHTON admits the prospect of heading to Liverpool today fills him with more apprehension than most other road trips. Jurgen Klopp has slowly brought the fear factor back to Anfield – they were the only Premier League side not to lose a league game at home last season. Brighton boss Hughton said: “You know these are the sort of places that you know if you don’t get it right then you can get beat big. “As a manager that’s always the one that you want to avoid.

“You know that as that kind of game is progressing you have to have a team that is on top of it all of the time. “Other places you might get away with somebody not tracking somebody or somebody being out of position, with the likes of Liverpool you can do everything right for 15-20 minutes and in a moment they score.” Though he admits the focus of Brighton’s work will be defensive Hughton has urged his side to make sure they are also a threat at Liverpool.

Veteran striker Glenn Murray will spearhead their attack and was singled out for praise by Hughton after he scored and shone in Brighton’s memorable 3-2 win against Manchester United last week.

Murray, 34, continues to defy the doubters and deliver at the top level and Hughton said: “The reason he does it is because he has a huge, huge desire to want to do it.

“Glenn reminds me very much of the professional who wants to play as long as possible.

“We have provided him with the platform to do it, but it is self driven.”