Albion boss Gus Poyet has slammed Southampton’s style of play after they ended his champions’ year-long unbeaten league run at Withdean.

Poyet likened second-placed Saints to struggling Dagenham and Redbridge following Saturday’s 2-1 defeat, the Seagulls’ first at home in League One since Carlisle won by the same score towards the end of last season. Goals in the last five minutes by substitute David Connolly and Jose Fonte lifted Nigel Adkins’ side back above Huddersfield into the second automatic promotion spot but they are still 13 points adrift of Poyet’s runaway title winners.

He sneered: “They play the same kind of football as Dagenham and Redbridge. The only difference is they’ve got (Rickie) Lambert. If you gave Dagenham and Redbridge (Lee) Barnard and Lambert they would be in the top six.

“It is difficult to defend, they put balls in the box. There is a big difference between the teams anyway. We need to keep the ball and because we didn’t keep it we lost the game.

“They are a team that it doesn’t matter how they play they will always kick it forward and put it in the box - possession against position. In this championship possession beat position and that is what is going to rest in history.

“When you look back in ten years time who won the championship this year it was Brighton, playing football, passing the ball, not kicking the ball and putting it in the box. That’s facts, you cannot change that.

“There are ways of setting up a team. You can buy players who are all six foot and play balls long and high, like Stoke, like Colchester last year, like Southampton, or you can choose Nooney (Craig Noone) who is going to give you something that the fans would like, that it is good to pay a ticket for.

“It’s two different ways. Unfortunately for Southampton our way was the best this year.”

Poyet will give some of his first team regulars a rest in today’s low-key Sky televised visit to mid-table Colchester (12.15).

“I will probably make plenty of changes,”he said. “They have been playing big, big games all the time, 40-plus games with a lot of pressure.”

Top scorer Glenn Murray misses the match with an injured left shoulder, which forced him off early in the second half on Saturday