Dan Ashworth reveals real reason why Brighton extended Graham Potter's contract

Potter, 44, was just six months into a four-year deal having joined from Swansea last May - the extension takes him until 2025.

Potter made a positive start to life at Brighton and at the time Albion were 12th in the Premier League table after 13 matches and playing attractive football.

Potter's team then experienced a poor run and Albion were just two points off the relegation places when the Premier League was suspended due to coronavirus.

"No. No regrets," said Ashworth speaking on a video conference call on Thursday. "He is a good manager, a good person and we have seen a lot of attributes in him and hope he will be with us for many years to come. No regrets."

Albion's last match was a determined 0-0 draw at Wolves on March 7. Brighton were without a victory in 2020 and were all set for a nerve-jangling relegation battle with nine fixtures remaining.

"Two-thirds of the way through the season, we’re in 15th place in the league," Ashworth added. "We’ve had some really good performances and really good moments, we’ve had a couple of difficult runs, inevitably that happens.

"We anticipate that at some stage we’d go a few games without picking up points or a win – that happens quite a lot to the teams in the bottom half of the Premier League.

"Performances have been really really good at times. A couple of the young players have come through and been really positive finds for us.

"And I think Graham, two-thirds of the way through his first PL season, his second season in England, will be learning really quickly and has been about the PL, the players we have and who will or won’t suit him going forwards."

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