Gus Poyet felt that his side’s clinical first-half display was the key to Albion’s first home league win since November...
The Seagulls scored from their first two chances and had a two-goal cushion inside 26 minutes thanks to goals from Ashley Barnes and Andrea Orlandi.
While Jeff Hendrick netted for the visitors in the second half, Albion maintained their 100 per cent record in 2013.
Poyet told seagulls.co.uk, “The early goal made the difference in the game. If you have a chance you need to score and we made it look easy. When you have David Lopez on the ball you know that he will wait for the player to be free before passing the ball.
“That goal gave us the calmness that you need to play at home and we relaxed. Then our second shot on target was another goal which was even better. It was a good result.
“Unfortunately it was a nervy finish in the end but that was our own doing. We knew that it would have been over with the third goal and we have got to score that to relax. We put ourselves in some danger at the end but the most important thing was about winning though.
“That’s English football. When you are winning by a goal there are going to be plenty of 50/50 situations and plenty of balls into the box. We gave away some silly fouls, which gave them the chance to put the ball into the box. Saying that, our goalkeeper did not have many saves to make today so we can’t complain too much.
“It’s a good start to the year, we have a full squad and we are in a good position.”
Craig Mackail-Smith missed out on the game and Poyet said that he was airing on the side of caution after the Albion striker had been struggling with a tight hamstring all week.
“We checked him at 11 o’clock and he was in a similar situation as when he got injured against Millwall earlier in the season. He has been tight all week, he didn’t training until Thursday and he was 50/50.
“It would have been a big risk and when we have the whole squad available except for Bruno it was not necessary to risk him today. If it was a cup final we might have played him but we all agreed it was best to rest him.”
Meanwhile, Argentinean striker Leonardo Ulloa was at the Amex this afternoon to watch the win after Albion agreed a fee with Almeria, and the striker will now discuss personal terms with the club.
Poyet added, “He’s a typical number nine box player. He’s good in the air, he will hold the ball up and he has good movement around the box when the ball is wide.
“We have a great chance of bringing him in but we need to make sure that everything goes through very easily and that there are no surprises. It’s never confirmed until the deal is done and dusted so hopefully we will have some news next week.”
Original article
The Seagulls scored from their first two chances and had a two-goal cushion inside 26 minutes thanks to goals from Ashley Barnes and Andrea Orlandi.
While Jeff Hendrick netted for the visitors in the second half, Albion maintained their 100 per cent record in 2013.
Poyet told seagulls.co.uk, “The early goal made the difference in the game. If you have a chance you need to score and we made it look easy. When you have David Lopez on the ball you know that he will wait for the player to be free before passing the ball.
“That goal gave us the calmness that you need to play at home and we relaxed. Then our second shot on target was another goal which was even better. It was a good result.
“Unfortunately it was a nervy finish in the end but that was our own doing. We knew that it would have been over with the third goal and we have got to score that to relax. We put ourselves in some danger at the end but the most important thing was about winning though.
“That’s English football. When you are winning by a goal there are going to be plenty of 50/50 situations and plenty of balls into the box. We gave away some silly fouls, which gave them the chance to put the ball into the box. Saying that, our goalkeeper did not have many saves to make today so we can’t complain too much.
“It’s a good start to the year, we have a full squad and we are in a good position.”
Craig Mackail-Smith missed out on the game and Poyet said that he was airing on the side of caution after the Albion striker had been struggling with a tight hamstring all week.
“We checked him at 11 o’clock and he was in a similar situation as when he got injured against Millwall earlier in the season. He has been tight all week, he didn’t training until Thursday and he was 50/50.
“It would have been a big risk and when we have the whole squad available except for Bruno it was not necessary to risk him today. If it was a cup final we might have played him but we all agreed it was best to rest him.”
Meanwhile, Argentinean striker Leonardo Ulloa was at the Amex this afternoon to watch the win after Albion agreed a fee with Almeria, and the striker will now discuss personal terms with the club.
Poyet added, “He’s a typical number nine box player. He’s good in the air, he will hold the ball up and he has good movement around the box when the ball is wide.
“We have a great chance of bringing him in but we need to make sure that everything goes through very easily and that there are no surprises. It’s never confirmed until the deal is done and dusted so hopefully we will have some news next week.”
Original article