Hughton hails Albion's resilience and a touch of quality at Wigan

But he could not say they deserved their 1-0 win.

David Stockdale made a brilliant first-half save and Dale Stephens curled a super winner as the Seagulls went second in the Championship.

Boss Hughton said: “We were certainly not at our best in that first half.

“It is not a game that I can say we deserved to win.

“But we restricted them to minimal chances.

“We probably had the two best chances of the game – and I suppose the goal wasn’t even a good chance, it was just a great finish.

“Sam Baldock’s chance in the first half (pictured above, saved by Adam Bogdan) was arguably the best of the game. But it was that type of game – scrappy.

“We gave the ball away far too often. They pressed in certain areas.

“We are generally quite good at working around that press but we were too loose in our passing and we never allowed ourselves to get into a rhythm in the game.

“I think you have to give them credit for that. They worked very hard and unsettled us.

Dale Stephens curls the winner

“I could have made substitutions at half-time. I look at the team and we were nowhere near at our level – and that could be everybody.

“But what we have is resilience, we have some quality that can turn games.

“These are the type of games which maybe sometimes matter even more.

“When you don’t play particularly well but you have shown enough in the team to get a win.”