Hughton: We kept focus on football pitch
BRIGHTON boss Chris Hughton insists his players were fully focused on the game despite the disturbances which marred the Premier League match against rivals Crystal Palace on Tuesday.
Sussex Police branded the disturbances a “return to the dark days of football” as some fans without tickets tried to force their way into the Amex Stadium.
The decision was taken to lock turnstiles at 7.51pm, six minutes into a match which finished goalless.
Six people including one 15-year-old boy were arrested, while two stewards – one from each club – had to be taken to hospital, one with three fractured ribs.
Some supporters who had tickets were unable to get into the ground.
Hughton, however, maintains the players and his coaching staff had to try to blank everything out and focus on delivering a good performance on the pitch.
“Certainly as a team and a group of players, you have to concentrate very much on exactly what happens on the pitch, trying to get a result from the game,” Hughton said. “But of course you are made aware of events. You could tell during the game there were some bangers going off with a little bit of smoke.
“They are the things which definitely don’t affect you as a group of players, because your concentration is on the game, but you are very much aware they are happening.”
Meanwhile Hughton has given support to the continued drive to help black and ethnic minority coaches get their chance to be interviewed for coaching roles in the Premier League.
The 58-year-old is currently the only black manager in the top flight.
This week saw The Sports People’s Think Tank’s annual report say there were still “institutionally embedded barriers” in English football, with progress since 2014 “minimal” for BAME candidates.
“It’s being highlighted again, today, tomorrow, in the next few weeks. It’s something that you’d like to think would help but it is all about trying to redress the balances that we already know,” said Hughton.
“We have a responsibility to make sure that for all the talk we’ve had for quite some time, with very little change, (we) turn it into change.”