Hughton: Training ground feels good as we prepare for Derby County's individual qualities

Chris Hughton beleives Tuesday's win at Rotherham has brought a better feel to the Brighton & Hove Albion training ground as they prepare to combat Derby County's 'individual qualities'.
Chris HughtonChris Hughton
Chris Hughton

Albion got back to winning ways with a 2-0 success at Rotherham on Tuesday night after back-to-back defeats against Nottingham Forest and Newcastle United.

They are now building up to a tricky Championship home clash with Derby tonight as they bid to keep the promotion hopes alive.

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The Seagulls can go nine points clear of third-placed Huddersfield with victory over Steve McClaren's tenth-placed Rams ahead of the Saturday program of games.

Hughton has recognised the threat of an under-achieving Derby side and admits they must prepare against the qualities of Darren Bent, Tom Ince, Johnny Russell and Bradley Johnson, but as always, insists their own game will be key.

On the back of the Rotherham win, the Albion manager said: "I wouldn't say it settled down any nerves, we were on the back of two defeats, more so the Nottingham Forest one because of the real disappointment of that defeat and performance.

"For however long you are in the game, there is always a better feel around the training ground after a win, irrespective of what type of win that is.

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"It has certainly made it a better training ground over the last couple of days.

"Generally for us it is about the way we want to play and implementing that, but you of course have to do your homework particularly against teams that have particular players that can hurt you in certain ways.

"That they (Derby) do, they have good defensive options. I know they have had some difficulty at the back for the last few games, but they have individual qualities that we will have to be guarded against."