Albion boss Chris Hughton has shrugged aside the frustration of finishing 15 points clear above play-off conquerors Sheffield Wednesday to praise the character of his players in both legs.

The Seagulls finished three places and the equivalent of five wins above Wednesday in the final Championship table as they lost out to Middlesbrough for automatic promotion on goal difference.

Hughton told The Argus: "I think the fact we finished so far apart is by the by but the disappointment is massive.

"We got ourselves into a position where we were so close to automatic and then came so close again."

Albion threatened to run riot in the first half of last night's 1-1 draw against Wednesday in the second leg at the Amex after losing the first leg 2-0 and four players to injury inside an hour at Hillsborough three days earlier.

Anthony Knockaert and Steve Sidwell recovered to feature but top scorer Tomer Hemed and young player of the season Connor Goldson were ruled out.

Hughton said: "The injuries we picked up on Friday night are things out of our control. Things have gone against us but right through that the players have showed great character.

"To keep that scoreline down at Sheffield for more than 30 minutes with ten men and them throwing everything at us, and then, for us to start the game the way we did, I think shows massive character from all the players."