Chris Hughton insists it is business as usual at Brighton despite the club’s precarious Premier League position.
Brighton’s midweek loss to relegation rivals Cardiff – their fifth straight defeat in all competitions – left them anxiously looking over their shoulder with five games left to play.
The Seagulls hold a two-point advantage over Cardiff and do have a game in hand on the 18th-placed Bluebirds, but their daunting run-in includes fixtures against Arsenal, Manchester City and Tottenham.
Brighton boss Hughton said: “I will always have regular chats with the chairman (Tony Bloom), Paul Barber (chief executive) and Dan Ashworth (technical director), who has come in.
“They are the ones I will speak to on a fairly regular basis. Most of that is about the games, the performances and how things are in the week with the training.
“There would be nothing different now than at any stage of the season.
“My only job at this moment is to set the tactics right and make sure that the players are disciplined enough around those tactics to give ourselves every chance of scoring and winning a game.”
Brighton had appeared to have secured a third straight season of top-flight football when beating Crystal Palace 2-1 on March 9.
But Brighton have not scored a league goal since, and in the last week have suffered respective 5-0 and 2-0 home defeats to Bournemouth and Cardiff.
“We have spoken about it and had a fairly long meeting after the (Cardiff) game which is very normal,” Hughton said at the pre-match press conference before Saturday’s trip to Wolves.
“We had a shorter meeting this morning outside on the grass.
“It’s about making sure we do the right things to get the result we need.
“Every team at our level is going to have periods where they don’t play to the level they know they can.
“Around that there is going to be anxiety and misplaced passes.”
Hughton said it is imperative that Brighton shut out any external noises during the final month of the season.
“You can’t afford to let it concern you,” he said.
“As regards any criticism it’s normal and it’s understandable.
“What we have to accept is if there is going to be good things said about a team or individuals then at times when things haven’t gone so well you have to accept that’s how it is.
“What you have to think about is making sure you improve in the next game, put it to one side, be big and brave enough to get results.”
