Chris Hughton felt Albion were on the wrong end of a “very soft” sending-off against Brentford today.

But he insisted they could have added to their points tally had they been more clinical.

The Seagulls lost 1-0 at the Amex as Andre Gray’s shot deflected in off Joe Bennett.

Lewis Dunk was shown a second yellow card after a clash with Bees winger Jota.

Boss Hughton said: “Of course I’m aware he was already on a yellow card.

“But I think if you look at the incident and you game-manage the incident, then it’s a free-kick for us and we want to get on with the game.

“It’s a push, it’s nowhere near head height and I just felt the referee could have managed it a little bit better. He might say something different.”

Albion drew a second blank in three home games and Hughton admitted: “That is part of our game we need to improve on.

“These (Brentford) are a good side. They have been in good form all season.

“But I thought we contained them very well at stages.

“We needed to create probably better opportunities ourselves.

“I thought at times we were prepared to take the game to them but we just need to be a little more clinical.”

He added: “I certainly couldn’t fault the effort we put in.”