SportsBrighton boss Graham Potter makes cautious relegation admission ahead of Southampton clash
Brighton manager Graham Potter has said that his side cannot yet feel safe from Premier League relegation after three successive home defeats to teams in the top five.
The Seagulls have won twice and drawn once since the league resumed last month but Amex Stadium defeats to Liverpool and both Manchester clubs have left them five points above the drop zone with three matches remaining.
Potter is relatively pleased with their post-lockdown return but still sounded a warning note following Saturday’s 0-5 thumping by Manchester City. He told Sussex Live: “We still need points, we’ve not got enough. We knew we had a tough week coming up, but we’re still fighting for points.
“But we have to put it into perspective as well. We have seven points post-lockdown and have to focus on getting as many as possible in the remaining three games.”
Brighton are currently in 15th place and could be mathematically safe by Thursday night if they beat Southampton and both Bournemouth and Aston Villa fail to win their midweek games – and the Cherries travel to face Manchester City, who have a 100% home record post-lockdown with a cumulative score of 17-0.
However, with all four teams immediately beneath them recording wins over the weekend, the Seagulls are now within arm’s reach of West Ham and Watford, although helpfully they play each other on Friday night.
Having faced four of the current top five over the last month, Albion’s final three games at least seem more accommodating on paper – Southampton, Newcastle and Burnley are all between 10th and 13th and therefore free of any relegation worries.
The former two are effectively just playing for positions by this stage and, while the Clarets are still targeting a Europa League spot, that could be out of reach by the time they host Brighton on the final day of the season. [via premierleague.com]
Potter is understandably preaching caution given his team’s heavy defeat on Saturday and wins for the four teams directly beneath them in the table. However, their fixture list has been thankless in the last couple of weeks and they are already above the current projected survival mark of 34 points.
Even a point at St Mary’s on Thursday should settle them and would bring them closer to allaying any last lingering fears of being sucked into the thick of a relegation battle.
Brighton fans, is Potter right to be wary of the threat of relegation or is he just being diplomatic? Have your say by commenting below!
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