BOSS Chris Hughton has hit back at suggestions Albion are end-of-season chokers.

He insists his players are in the right frame of mind for the promotion run-in and says they only fell just short last season due to the competitive nature of the Championship.

Huddersfield’s German chief David Wagner, fans of rival clubs and some of the Seagulls’ own anxious supporters latched onto last Saturday’s surprise second defeat in succession at Nottingham Forest as evidence Albion are susceptible after three top six finishes in the last four seasons ultimately ended in disappointment.

Wagner, speaking before third-placed Huddersfield’s 1-0 home win over Aston Villa on Tuesday, said: “Brighton – and this is what I hear from people who have much more experience of English football than I have – have struggled in the past, often, at the end of the season.”

Albion, who responded the same night to their double setback against leaders Newcastle and Forest with a 2-0 victory at Rotherham, face a painful reminder of how close they came in May against Derby County at the Amex this evening.

The 1-1 draw at home to Derby in the penultimate fixture of a 14-match unbeaten finish left them needing all three points in the promotion decider at Middlesbrough, instead of one.

Hughton told The Argus: “It was close to the end, a home game.

“It was a game at that stage of the season we had to win to put us in a better position. Probably that was the one. But what we have here is a very good and competitive group of players. People will always put their take on losing a game, the word choking and so on.

“I never see it that way. This is always such a competitive league. You cannot win all of your games.

“There will be some games where you reach your levels, others that you can’t. Even in that game (Derby) I wouldn’t have put it down to the fact that the occasion was too big. It’s just down to the fact that you are playing against very good opposition every week.

“Thankfully for us, on more occasions than not, we’ve reached very good levels this season. As regards to what the players put into every game, mentally they are in a very good position in the large majority of the games they play. It’s more about the competition levels than choking.”