Graham Potter makes brutal 'pain and suffering' admission after Newcastle United loss

Brighton went down 2-1 at St James' Park which was their fourth consecutive Premier League loss – shipping nine goals and scoring just once along the way.

Newcastle continued their remarkable Premier League revival with a win over Brighton – their fifth victory in six games.

Good reads: Eddie Howe makes Brighton tactical admissionRyan Fraser and Fabian Schar struck as Eddie Howe’s side fought off a concerted Brighton fightback, winning 2-1 after Seagulls skipper Lewis Dunk reduced the arrears.

Jacob Murphy’s pass left defender Marc Cucurella trailing in his wake before lifting a shot over Robert Sanchez, and although his attempt came back off the upright, Fraser was on hand to give the home side an early lead.

Only two more minutes had elapsed when the visitors were hit again, this time when Schar climbed highest to head Fraser’s right-wing free-kick firmly past the keeper.

Dunk headed home a corner to give Brighton hope of ending their own poor run but the hosts survived to take the three points.

Good reads: Paul Merson baffled by Yves Bissouma absenceBrighton boss Graham Potter said: "We are really frustrated and disappointed with the result. We started well but it was a poor goal from our perspective to go 1-0 down.

"There is a lot of positivity around Newcastle and a lot of credit has to go to Eddie [Howe] and his staff."

On four straight Premier League defeats: "Results wise we cannot hide away from that. Sometimes you need a bit of pain and suffering to move forward.

"We play Liverpool next. That is as tough as it gets but that's the challenge you want.

Potter admitted he was shocked to see Albion concede twice so quickly in the first half. “To find ourselves 2-0 down, at the speed that we did, was a bit of a body blow,” said the head coach. “We suffered from a bad goal and then a set play, and it came from nowhere really given we started the game the better team.

“We kept going but it’s hard when you’re 2-0 down all of a sudden. Over the course of the game I thought we were the better team, but the better team really is the one who scores the most goals, and that was Newcastle today.”

“We stepped up a gear in the second half, even though I didn’t think we were poor in the first half, it was just the scoreline went against us,” he added. “We had some good chances, good opportunities, and there was plenty to be pleased with.

“You could see the spirit of the team was there, the players keep going until the end and we just ran out of time. We need to learn from the pain of the defeat, we need to try and get better, but there were lots of things that were positive.

“It was a step forward in terms of our performance level but obviously we’re disappointed with the result.”

Potter added: “The players’ effort was there, they gave everything and were disappointed because we were nearly there in the first half, but that’s not enough at this level.

“You’ve got to be honest always, which is what we always try to be. In terms of our performance there are always positives there but there are also things you can do better. That’s how we’ve always acted with the guys and apart from Burnley recently, the performances haven’t been too far away.”

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