Brighton boss Hurzeler says he can handle Seagulls’ slump

Fabian Hurzeler insisted Thursday he could cope with the pressure of Brighton’s recent struggles, saying he always knew “this phase would come” in his managerial career.

Brighton’s 3-1 loss at home to Crystal Palace last weekend extended their winless run to four games, with the south coast club’s fans voicing their frustrations.

Hurzeler, who enjoyed a successful spell with German side St Pauli before becoming the Premier League’s youngest permanent manager in pre-season at the age of 31, said the current tough run of results is a “new experience”.

But speaking ahead of Saturday’s match at West Ham, the German boss said: “I can deal with this situation, I can handle this because I love to have the responsibility and I also know it’s part of it to have this pressure and to be judged by the results.

“On top of that, the club has an amazing structure so the people responsible like Tony (Bloom, chairman), like Paul (Barber, chief executive) and David (Weir, technical director), they’re always there, they always give me the feeling like they support me, they believe in the club, in the work we do.”

He added: “It’s not about complaining, it’s about working hard, it’s about trying to find solutions, trying to be there for the team, trying to lead by example by the work ethic.

“The performances were OK the last games, they were not that bad, and it’s just now to get the momentum back.”

Brighton were briefly second in the table after a 1-1 draw with basement club Southampton last month but they have slumped to ninth place after their poor run.

“It’s a new experience, for sure,” said Hurzeler. “I had a lot of great success so far in my career but I knew that this phase would come and now it’s here I can learn a lot.

“I’m in the right club to experience this phase because it’s a club that’s well structured. We have great characters in the team. The team know what to do. The team work hard. They’re not pointing the fingers at each other.”