Brighton boss Graham Potter insists Friday’s clash with Burnley is not a desperate scrap between two struggling sides.
Both clubs will go into the game at the Amex Stadium hoping to end long winless runs after disappointing starts in the Premier League.
The Seagulls have won just once this term, against Newcastle on September 20, while Sean Dyche’s Clarets are winless and sitting bottom with just one point.
Yet Potter feels it is too early in the campaign to start writing teams off and says neither club will be panicking.
He said: “I think both myself and Sean would say it would be great to win the game, that’s normal, because it’s the next one and with where the league table is at the moment, but at the same time we are seven or eight games in and there is a long way to go.
“From our perspective we always focus on the next game and do our best to try to win. They’ll be doing the same because they have some good players and they have won points in the Premier League before.
“I don’t think we look at the table in terms of how we approach the match. We look at the opposition we are playing, we look at ourselves and try to play well and do the things we want to do.
“That’s the challenge, not external factors such as the league table.”
Potter is in no doubt that Burnley’s position is a false one. The Clarets, who are playing a fifth successive season of top-flight football, have regularly punched above their weight under Dyche.
Potter said: “I see the quality Burnley have, I see what they do well. I have got huge respect for Sean, the job he has done at that club is amazing. You under-estimate them and write them off at your peril.
“That’s not something we’ll be doing. We will try our best to win but we know we will have to fight and play well and have the luck and margins to go our way.”
Striker Neal Maupay is set to return up front for Brighton after being left out for last week’s loss at Tottenham.
Potter this week admitted there had been an “incident” after reports the Frenchman had become involved in a heated dispute with a colleague, although he did not reveal details.
Potter must also decide whether to recall goalkeeper Mat Ryan after preferring Robert Sanchez against Spurs.
“There’s competition for places, there’s decisions to be made,” Potter said. “You try to make them with the best intentions and then you’re looking for everyone to react as positively as you can.
“I must say of the group we have here the professionalism and the togetherness is really, really strong and then everyone just gets on with it and tries to make my job difficult by playing really well.
“We’ve been in this position before. You can go a long time between wins and I think then how you work, how you react, how you stick together is so, so important.”
