Lewis Dunk hits out at Brighton issue as fans boo after stalemate with Brentford.
Lewis Dunk admits Brighton are in a sticky patch after a stalemate with Brentford
Skipper Lewis Dunk pinpointed Brighton’s problem as they were booed off as their winless run stretched to six Premier League games by a frustrating goalless draw against Brentford.
Albion dominated for large periods on a foggy evening at the Amex Stadium and hit the woodwork inside four minutes through Julio Enciso.
Bees goalkeeper Mark Flekken also made a string of important saves before being forced off injured in the 36th minute, albeit his replacement Hakon Valdimarsson was rarely tested on his Premier League debut.
Brentford, who remain without a top-flight away win this term, had an early Yoane Wissa finish ruled out for offside following VAR intervention but barely threatened, despite an improved second-half showing.
The Seagulls remain 10th ahead of Monday’s trip to Aston Villa, with Thomas Frank’s visitors a position and two points below moving towards their New Year’s Day showdown with Arsenal.
Brighton have plummeted from second place to mid-table amid a poor run of form which has increased scrutiny on head coach Fabian Hurzeler.
Seagulls chief executive Paul Barber called for perspective from fans in his programme notes after revealing he revealed emails “full of doom and gloom” following the recent 3-1 home defeat to rivals Crystal Palace.
“Frustrating, we’re in a sticky patch at the moment and can’t get a win,” said Dunk on Amazon Prime. “You look at the games we’ve not done enough in and dropped the intensity. You look at the stats and at the start of the season we outran teams. We looked at the stats and the games we won we ran more than them, and the games we haven’t won we ran less.
“We’ve got top, top players. We knew they’d be man for man and would get bodies behind the ball. In the second half we lost patience and tried to do individual things.”
One of the highlights for Albion however was the return to action of Solly March, who has missed more than a year of football after a knee injury.
March so nearly netted a dream winner with the final kick of the game as he fired narrowly over with his left foot from 18 yards
“I’m buzzing for Solly March,” Dunk added. “A second ACL, two operations, did he think he’d even get back at one stage?”
