Brighton boss Graham Potter believes Saturday’s win at Tottenham was their best display in his three years at the club – but he has told his players they will need to be even better at Manchester City.
A week after the Seagulls beat Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium, they repeated the trick across north London thanks to Leandro Trossard’s 90th-minute winner.
The fixtures do not get any easier, though, with Brighton heading to Manchester to take on Pep Guardiola’s Premier League pace-setters on Wednesday night.
“I was really proud of the players,” said Potter. “It was a really good performance, probably one of the best, if not the best, in my time at the club.
“You have to have that level of performance if you are going to get a result at Tottenham. Historically it’s not easy for us to go there and get a win.
“The players gave everything on the day, and that gives you a chance to get a result. Our supporters were brilliant and it was a really good day for the club.
“It gives you confidence, I guess. We’ve played some good games this season, we’ve taken a step forward I think.
“But the past is the past and you have to start again, against an absolutely fantastic side. I would say we’ll have to be even better than we were against Spurs. That’s the challenge.
“It’s very rare you get the opportunity to play against the very best in sport, so while it’s an incredible challenge it’s also exciting. We’ll go there and do our best.”
City will host the Seagulls on the back of their gruelling Champions League tussle with Atletico Madrid and the 3-2 FA Cup semi-final defeat by Liverpool.
But Potter added: “I don’t think any time is a good time to play them, in terms of how they are as a team.
“In the game at the weekend you saw their qualities. You admire them just as much in defeat as when they are winning games.
“They had a tough two games against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League, you can’t imagine how tough that is, in between two Liverpool matches.
“To recover from 3-0 down at half-time and play the second half as they did, the way they acted was very, very impressive.”
Brighton will be without key midfielder Yves Bissouma for the next two matches through suspension after he became the first Premier League player to pick up 10 bookings this season.
“We’ve played games without Yves before and done well as a team,” said Potter.
“We have to find that solution. But the group is in a really good place and itching to play and help the team.
“That’s the exciting bit over the next couple of days, to find the right ones and put them in.”
