Bridcutt: We're still confident

9:30am Thursday 16th August 2012 in Albion By Brian Owen

Tough night: Liam Bridcutt at Swindon Tough night: Liam Bridcutt at Swindon

Liam Bridcutt has assured fans Albion’s confidence has not been shaken by their cup flop.

But the midfielder admits the Seagulls must improve in their Championship opener at Hull City on Saturday.

The Seagulls lost 3-0 at Swindon in the Capital One Cup having been the better side for 50 minutes.

They now face a tough trip north to face Steve Bruce’s new club but Bridcutt said: “We all know that on our day we can cause problems for a lot of teams.

“We have shown that in pre-season and all last season. We have got a good group of lads, we have all got strong characters and we all want to do well.

“Once Saturday comes we will be a completely different team.”

Albion drew 0-0 at Hull last season, just three days after an FA Cup humbling at Liverpool.

Bridcutt added: “Swindon was a slip up for us but it comes down to how we bounce back. We showed good bouncebackability last season.”

Andrew Crofts returns to midfield after playing for Wales against Bosnia Herzegovina last night. Former Seagulls defender Joel Lynch made his international debut as a substitute

Comments(12)

championshipgull says...
9:55am Thu 16 Aug 12

Here we go for the start of the new season proper. Great season last year, and on paper we should be able to do even better.

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seagullsays says...
10:00am Thu 16 Aug 12

Certainly better defensively, but with injuries to wide and attacking players and lack of new faces up front, can't see where the goals are going to come from at the moment. I'm sure there's lots going on behind the scenes, and hope something developes quickly and a deal or two can be agreed.

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championshipgull says...
10:11am Thu 16 Aug 12

We scored 57 goals last season probably need about 10 more for promotion.

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raymondo999 says...
10:17am Thu 16 Aug 12

Lost 3-0 to a Div 1 side and better defensively? Attaks a real worry, whos gonna support Barnsy. Need that new front man now to convert Nooneys good work. Any more news about Smithy or Jonesy?

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Willie, Willie Irvine says...
10:19am Thu 16 Aug 12

I think Hull will be in with a shout for promotion come the final phase of the season, so this could be a really tricky opener for us. Like Seagullsays, I'm concerned about our potential lack of firepower and think a draw will be a good result for us in the circumstances.

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The Real Ryfish says...
10:32am Thu 16 Aug 12

raymondo999 wrote:
Lost 3-0 to a Div 1 side and better defensively? Attaks a real worry, whos gonna support Barnsy. Need that new front man now to convert Nooneys good work. Any more news about Smithy or Jonesy?
But how many shots on target did we restrict them to? Two of the goals were unlucky and the other was a fine finish from a player not known to wear shooting boots. No problem, unless you think Painter and Calde are better defensively than Bruno and Bridge?

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VegasSeagull says...
1:13pm Thu 16 Aug 12

Brighton do react well when we have lost what we thought we would win. Hull could get a slapping on saturday.

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Seagulls Over Surrey (SOS) says...
1:35pm Thu 16 Aug 12

I'm really not worried by the Swindon result as I think the signs are there for a decent season. More options up front would certainly help so I hope Gus is going to pull something out of the bag soon (it's gone awfully quiet on that front but we live in hope)

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Captain Haddock says...
3:21pm Thu 16 Aug 12

Yes a tough start so it's good to get it out the way straight off...Hull are indeed potential play-off contenders. They've made shrewd and understated moves in the tranny market (cue pun-based reactions galore!) and have a settled set-up now.

Bruce has experience and is solid if unspectacular.

My bet is a draw but we may now The Swines have struck us see a reaction Saturday and a cheeky win...who knows?!

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VegasSeagull says...
3:22pm Thu 16 Aug 12

I think it surely possible that as the season goes on Poyet will be as focused on yet more players leaving as he is on bringing in new players. There are still one or two candidates for the chop and maybe when the window reopens we will see some movement.

I am confident that Gus has probably two deals in the making right now and that issues that we do not control are the cause for the hold up.

One question that does give me pause for thought is the capacity of our stadium should we get promoted. As great as our stadium is and as good as the capacity is for our level of football, can less than 30,000 seats supply the revenue needed to be a premiership team. Does anyone know if the numbers can be increased should we get promoted or are we maxed out?

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Captain Haddock says...
3:49pm Thu 16 Aug 12

We are maxed out when we finish the expansion up to 30,750.

I have had occasion to speak briefly to both Richard Hebberd and Martin Perry on that subject. There is a rumour we could expand down but Hebberd poo pooed that notion as fanciful and without any base in reality.

The only expansion he envisaged was via a major reconstruction due to the roof arrangements. Extremely costly and perhaps beyond viable altogether. Still, you never know!

I do think we could comfortably survive in The PL and function on 30k sell-outs assuming we remain well run. It just restricts further growth though.

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gordongull says...
6:59pm Thu 16 Aug 12

We probably should put in a bid for the Olympic Stadium just in case.

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