Gus Poyet admitted Albion were below par in defeat at Leicester today.

But he had sympathy for his sent-off left-back Marcos Painter, who will miss Wednesday's cup tie against Liverpool.

Painter was dismissed for two bookable offences, the second a handball, as the Seagulls went down 1-0.

The Albion manager said: "We were not good enough. Simple as that.

"We were not very good technically today for some reason as a team, we didn't control the game and we didn't play well.

"Saying that, normally when we have a bad day we still control the game or defend a bit better.

"We were chasing the game and the game was too open.

"We had chances at the end but overall we were not good enough."

Poyet admitted a disallowed first-half goal by home right-back Lee Peltier should have counted but felt Painter was unfortunate.

He added: "The second yellow card is exactly the same as Fernandes handballed in the 55th minute on the other side of the pitch when Calderon passed it and it hit his hand.

"We accept it. Sometimes it goes for you, sometimes it doesn't.

"I feel sorry for Marcos. The ball hits his hand from two yards and now he is going to miss Liverpool at home. Is that fair?"