SLAM DUNK ‘DESTINED TO HIT HEIGHTS’
SAMI HYYPIA believes the sky is the limit for defender Lewis Dunk – but wants the youngster to keep his feet firmly on the ground for now.
The 22-year-old impressed throughout and headed his second goal of the game in stoppage time to earn the Seagulls a hard-earned point.
Igor Vetokele twice gave Charlton the lead, but their inability to defend cost them twice as Dunk headed home from two Brighton corners.
And Hyypia says that he has seen enough from his Brighton defender already to know that he has a big future ahead of him.
“I had not heard a lot about him before I came, but I watched a few videos from last season and I can tell he is a promising defender who can play football,” said the Seagulls boss.
“He has shown me in preseason that he is as good as I thought, and he has improved this season already.
“I think he has all the attributes of what a centre-back should have. He is big and strong in the air but also quite quick and he can play football.
“The sky is the limit for him, but he needs to keep his feet on the ground and keep concentration. That is my job and I am determined to keep on helping him improve this season.”
Charlton took the lead inside five minutes after a fortunate ricochet fell to the feet of Belgian-Angolan striker Vetokele, who made no mistake.
But the Addicks’ celebrations were almost short-lived as Liverpool loanee Joao Teixeira burst into the box with just Stephen Henderson to beat.
However, the Seagulls were denied by the former West Ham goalkeeper, who spread himself well and palmed the ball away to safety.
It took Brighton more than an hour to break down a resilient Charlton defence and they did so from Dunk’s free header at a corner.
Yet again, though, it was Vetokele who was wheeling away in celebration as he twisted and turned inside the Brighton area.
Somehow the striker, who was playing in the Champions League for FC Copenhagen last season, shook off the last man and grabbed his second.
Charlton thought they had secured all three points but Hyypia’s side refused to lie down and earned themselves a corner in injury time.
And there again with the free header was Dunk to power home the Seagulls’ equaliser and leave the travelling fans gutted.
Charlton manager Bob Peeters praised his goalscorer but was quick to reiterate that the goals came from the whole team.
“I have known him (Vetokele) a long time and I knew he could do the business in this division,” said Peeters.
“He is an important player for us but we need to work together as a team to provide for him otherwise he cannot get the goals.
“We did very well to create chances for him. He did well by scoring them and I think he has made a great start to life in the Championship.
“He was playing Champions League football with Copenhagen the last few seasons and I needed to convince him that this was a good move.
“I have jokingly targeted 70 goals for him this season! But maybe in a few weeks he stops scoring then what happens? It is important we score as a team.
“He is a good player but I do not mind if it is him scoring or even Andre Bikey scoring.”