Sami Hyypia
Image by: Paul Hazlewood
PUBLISHED
23:58 12th August 2014
by Paul Camillin
Cheltenham did not make it easy for us and so it was good that we kept going."
Sami Hyypia
Sami Hyypia
Brighton & Hove Albion boss Sami Hyypia praised his players' professionalism and patience after a comfortable 2-0 win saw them ease past Cheltenham Town at the Amex, and into the Capital One Cup second round.Hyypia told seagulls.co.uk, "I thought before the game that we would need to be patient and that we would need to keep the ball moving and keep our concentration for the entire 90 minutes.
"It is never easy to play these type of games. An early goal would have eased things a little when it was 0-0, but we had to be patient and ensure that we did not concede, while also trying to make it physical for them as well.
"Cheltenham did not make it easy for us and so it was good that we kept going. Their tactics were to sit very deep in numbers and it did make it very difficult, but we needed that little bit of extra quality to breakthrough and get that early goal.
"We made them run a lot and if you have to run a lot then at some stage of the match you are going to get tired, and we were able to take advantage. We kept the tempo up and kept moving the ball and then the goal came."
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"We knew that we could be a threat at set pieces, even though they had some big players who could be dangerous for them. We felt that could be an area where we could score a goal and I am happy that we did."
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Hyypia was delighted for goalscorers Lewis Dunk - who broke the deadlock, heading in Inigo Calderon's cross from Kazenga LuaLua's short corner - and Craig Mackail-Smith, who sealed the win late on with his first goal in almost 20 months.He was also delighted to avoid the need for extra time, adding, "I think it is the job of a centre-back to go into the box for set pieces. It was Dunky’s first goal at senior level. It’s a great thing for a centre-back to score their first goal.
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"Macca is working hard to get back to his best form and he is putting in a huge amount of work. When you are out for a long time it is not always easy to come back but I’m very happy that he scored.
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"I did not want the game to go to extra time. We are a bit short of numbers and if we had to play 120 minutes it would not have been good preparation for the Birmingham game. That was more on my mind than any doubts that we would win."
[h=2]UPCOMING HOME FIXTURES[/h][h=3]ALBION V bolton
[/h]saturday 23rd AUGUST, KICK-OFF 3PM
[h=3]ALBION V charlton
[/h]SATURDAY 30th AUGUST, KICK-OFF 3PM
[h=3]Albion v blackpool
[/h]SATURDAY 20TH september, kick-off 3pm
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