Brighton & Hove Albion boss Sami Hyypia said he couldn't have asked for any more from his players or the travelling Seagulls fans after a spirited Capital One Cup display against Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane.Albion went down 2-0, with Erik Lamela and Harry Kane on target in the second half for the home side, and Hyypia felt it was Tottenham's Premier League class that eventually proved the difference.**
He said, "I am very happy with the performance, the work rate and the effort from the players. We showed a great desire to defend our goal, battled until the end and everyone in the dressing room is tired which is how it should be. In the end it was only that little bit of extra class that told.
"We defended well in most situations, but of course you can always look at how you've conceded and ask could we have done better? But Tottenham are a good side, with good individual players and both goals were good attacking moves.
"We can take a lot of positives from this game and learn from it. If everyone puts in that amount of effort that we showed tonight when we were not in possession, we will start to win games instead of drawing them.
"The support from our fans was great. I loved it. The fans sang from the kick-off and kept singing right until the end. I knew there was going to be a lot of Albion fans, but I didn't expect that and the support was excellent."
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Hyypia had no complaints as referee Mark Clattenburg turned down two penalty appeals - one in the first half as Kyle Naughton appeared to handle in the area, and another as Kazenga LuaLua went over in the box after half-time."I think you saw it better," he told the gathered media. "I didn't see if it hit his hand or arm; the referee was much closer, but I guess he didn't see it either. In the second half [with LuaLua], I think Tottenham had a similar one at the other end, so I've no complaints."
Meanwhile he was full of praise for 18-year-old goalkeeper Christian Walton, who came in for his senior debut after David Stockade injured his finger in training yesterday - and says the England under-20 keeper has a great future ahead of him.
"It isn't an easy place to play your first game and Christian did brilliantly. He will remember this day, playing here and playing well.
"He couldn't do anything about either of their goals. He did what he needed to do and I'm very happy with his performance.
"He is one of the good young goalkeepers for England; I've seen him improve since I've been here and he has a chance to play at the very highest level."
[h=3]ALBION V WIGAN
[/h]TUESDAY 4TH November, KICK-OFF 7.45PM
[h=3]ALBION V blackburn
[/h]saturday 8th november, KICK-OFF 3PM
[h=3]Albion v fulham
[/h]SATURDAY 29TH NOVEMber, kick-off 3pm
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