Brighton’s assistant head coach, Andrew Crofts feels that his players must “learn and grow” following a 2-2 draw against Nottingham Forest.
Goals from Jack Hinshelwood and Danny Welbeck put Brighton ahead at half-time after Forest took the initial lead through Chris Wood’s penalty.
Ramon Sosa however rescued Forest a point before Morgan Gibbs-White was red carded for a foul on Brighton’s Joao Pedro, which also resulted in red cards for both Fabian Hürzeler and Nuno Espirito Santo for their reactions.
Brighton’s managerial post-match media duty consequently fell upon assistant head coach, Crofts who was “frustrated” by the result as he believed that they should of won the game but iterated that lessons must be learned.
“We felt that we’d done enough to win the game. We should be speaking about three points and a decent performance, but we’re not. “We’ve got to learn from the last two games for sure and we will.
“There’s lots to lots to analyse and review and to learn and grow from.”
Reflecting upon where Brighton lost the win, Crofts felt that they needed to “…have been a little bit more clinical with the last action, the last bit of movement, and made sure we cover the right positions.
“If the third goal doesn’t come you’ve got to go ‘okay, just make sure we win the game.’ That’s where we can learn from as a team.”
Hinshelwood has primarily played in wide positions and particularly in defence but was deployed as a midfielder against Forest, due to Yasin Ayari missing out through “a high temperature” which left him unwell.
Crofts was impressed with how Hinshelwood adapted to his position after almost one year on the flanks, as he praised the 19 year-old for his impact in midfield.
“I thought Jack was a real positive in midfield today. He’s such a top player to be able to play in lots of different positions as well as he does for someone so young.
“I’ve seen him play left-back, right-back and centre midfield and he plays so well in all those positions.”
Crofts explained that Hinshelwood had played as a midfielder within Brighton’s academy, which has benefitted the youngster in this four-goal cracker.
“Growing up in the academy, he played a lot as a midfielder and I think he’s got some really good attributes that suit him there.
“He can handle the ball well, he is physically very good and game intelligent. He makes well-timed runs into the box and can defend the box just as well.
“He has got so many different parts to his game that enables him to play full-back and central midfield.”