Chris Hughton has praised Albion’s resilience after they went neck and neck with the top two.

The Seagulls beat Charlton 3-1 in a game halted by protests from home fans against the top people at their club.

Albion were pegged back by a second-half equaliser but quickly regained the lead through Jiri Skalak and secured the win which takes them level on points with both Middlesbrough and Burnley.

Hughton said: “It was an unusual game to play in and I have not been involved in a game like that in terms of what was going on off the pitch.

“It changed the atmosphere in the ground and what impressed me most was at a time when Charlton got back into the game – and probably deserved to – we found another gear and went on to win the game.

“We needed that today because we certainly were not at our best.

“Some of Charlton’s play was quite exciting and we had to pick the game up again – and we did.”