Brighton and Hove Albion have lost their last four league one matches and have already been knocked out of the F.A. Cup. They now find themselves in the unenviable position of being one point above the relegation zone. This form is in stark contrast to the encouraging form they showed at the beginning of their league campaign; where they were unbeaten in their first five league matches and amazingly knocked Manchester City out of the League Cup. However Brighton’s early season promise has well and truly been forgotten and they must surely realise that if their form does not pick up soon, then this 2008/2009 campaign may well end in calamity.

“Brighton are playing quite well but are not getting any just rewards”

After losing 2-0 to Stockport County on Tuesday night, Seagulls manager Micky Adams could not hide his frustration at what he felt was an unwarranted result and apologised to the fans that had made the trip up north: “Certainly looking at the performance, we passed it nicely, we got the ball wide, we had shots on target. It’s just not falling our way at the moment. We’ve lost another game of football, and I feel for the supporters who travelled in their numbers – and I do thank them for that because it’s a long old journey on a cold Tuesday night”.

Adams has a point, Brighton were unlucky. They had more possession than Stockport, had more shots on and off target than Stockport, they hit the woodwork three times and they conceded a soft penalty. However this seems to be the problem, Brighton are actually playing quite well at the moment but are not getting any just rewards. Against Huddersfield Nicky Forster missed a penalty for The Seagulls and Bradley Johnson hit the bar in a game which they lost 1-0. They were knocked out of the F.A. Cup by Hartlepool in a first round replay thanks to a debatable awarding of a penalty to their opponents and a questionable line call disallowing a late ‘equaliser’ by Dean Cox. Undoubtedly Brighton need a lucky break soon, for if their form and confidence continue to crumble then it is hard to see where the rot will end.

Club captain and veteran striker Nicky Forster shares in the pessimism surrounding the club at the moment and speaking after the Stockport defeat said “We’re in a mini rut and I’m sure we’re going to have some tough times in training to get it right. It’s the manager’s job to instil that in us in the next couple of weeks”.

A ‘couple of weeks’ is exactly what Brighton need to try and regroup and thanks to their untimely exit from the F.A. Cup they do not have a match this weekend (29th and 30th November).

Their next match is away to Oldham on the 6th of December; let’s hope that by then Adams has indeed instilled that winning formula back into Brighton’s football so they can begin to get the vital results that have so cruelly eluded them of late.

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