Albion boss Chris Hughton says fans were entitled to be disappointed by the home draw with Leicester.

And he still believes the Seagulls have a “realistic crowd”, aware of the difficulties of the Premier League.

An undercurrent of criticism about performance levels this season was heightened by the Leicester result against ten men after leading.

Hughton said: “I certainly take no notice of it and as regards social media or message boards, I never read them or listen to them.

“I think we have got a fabulous crowd who are very supportive.

“I won’t call it negativity, but with any expectancy there can be perhaps disappointment.

“It’s normal and I don’t think that would not be the case anywhere else.

“We played for 60 minutes against ten men, winning 1-0 and then, disappointingly, conceded a goal, and it was disappointing for everyone.

“So any feeling is normal and certainly as regards what our supporters bring, they have been brilliant for so long.

“Expectations change a little bit and all you want is to make sure that for the most part you have a crowd that is very good, and we do.”

Albion finished 15th last season after promotion and are currently three places higher ahead of the trip to Huddersfield.

Asked if they are victims of their own success, Hughton said: “I don’t think so, maybe slightly.

“I still think we’ve got a support and a crowd that know it’s still going to be a tough season, especially when at the start of the season two of the three teams that came up (Wolves and Fulham) spent a vast amount of money.

“So I think we have got a realistic crowd.

“Every now and again of course they are going to show that (frustration) but I think there’s nothing wrong with that.

“Because we were disappointed ourselves (against Leicester) so I don’t think we can feel that way and not expect everybody else not to feel the same.

“But, come the next game, they are always right behind us.”