'Not his fault' - Brighton star comes to defence of teammate after draw which 'felt like a loss'

Albion were leading 1-0 when Dahoud stepped on Ben Osborn’s leg, leading to a straight red card.

Sheffield United equalised five minutes later – with Adam Webster turning in Jayden Bogle’s low cross into his own net.

"He's apologised and we move on,” Steele told reporters when asked about Dahoud, post-match.

"We're all gutted and we're all in it together. It's not his fault we lost – well it feels like we lost – drew the game.

"We're in it together. We win and lose as a team and accept results like that as a team.”

Steele, who has shared responsibility as the number one keeper with Bart Verbruggen this season – said Brighton ‘played really well’ for most of the first-half – the ‘first 30 minutes at least’.

He said the visitors ‘came out with their tails up’ after half-time ‘but we still were creating chances’.

"When you don't kill the game at this level and you get a red card, this can happen,” Steele said. “We didn't quite do enough.

“The game flips in the second half. We gave away a really sloppy goal, when we felt quite comfortable.

“We are just frustrated that we haven't won the game. We should have done but it's the Premier League – if you give teams the opportunity to get back in, they'll take it.”

Steele, 33, is one of the most experienced players in the squad, as was one of six changes to the team that won 2-0 at Ajax in the Europa League on Thursday night.

Steele admitted the Seagulls have not found the adjustment to playing two or three games a week, whilst travelling in Europe, easy – with this draw coming just three days after the fairy tale win in Amsterdam.

"It's difficult but we showed in the first half we were prepared and ready,” the former Blackburn and Sunderland man said.

"It's not easy. We've got a young squad with injuries and playing tough games every three days.

"The first half we were really good and that second half not quite so. We've got to rest, recover and re-group as we've got a tough set of fixtures after.

“It feels like we lost the game because of how dominant we were. Barring the goal, we defended really well. It's football, nothing is perfect.

"We've got to stick together and keep ploughing forward.”