Albion boss Hughton says they 'thoroughly deserved' a point against Southampton

Chris Hughton and Mauricio Pellegrino shake hands before kick-off. Picture by PW Sportings Pics

Brighton & Hove Albion manager Chris Hughton felt his side 'thoroughly deserved' a point against Southampton and praised his players for getting back into the game.

The Seagulls fought back to take a point from a losing position for the first team this season as they drew 1-1 with Saints at the Amex.

An early Steven Davis goal had put the visitors ahead, but Glenn Murray headed home a second-half equaliser to notch his 50th home goal for Albion.

Hughton said: "We needed to get into the second half before the game opened up. In the second half the tempo of our game was very good.

"It's difficult when you go a goal down so early against a side, that, maybe have not had the season they would have liked, but have so much quality in the team.

"Credit to our lads for the way they responded and we thoroughly deserved to get back in the game.

"When you are a club that has just got promoted you always feel the home form would be a defining factor for how many points you get in a season. I was incredibly delighted to get the three points away from home last week, which was another milestone we have got over.

"We know how difficult the games against teams in the top six are going to be, for the teams outside of that we have to use every opportunity we can to get those points."

The results lifts Albion back up to 11th in the table and Hughton feels they are worthy of their mid-table position.

Hughton revealed: "From the ten games, we have played two of the top six and even in the games we have lost away at Leicester and Bournemouth, we have not been embarrassed in any games, so we deserve to be where we are.

"By far the most important thing is that there is a lot more work to be done. You can in this division lose three, four, five games on the spin and we have to make sure we guard against that."