Hughton: 'This Is Not A Catastrophic Result'!

Last updated : 02 March 2009 By Footy Mad - Editor
Chris Hughton: "What everyone must realise is that Oba (Martins) has been out of action for quite some time.

"We were able to bring him on in the last game and he gave us a good 35 minutes.

"It was right and fitting he start, but he's been out and perhaps just lacked that little bit of sharpness, that's why we took him off and brought Mark Viduka on.

"We're in a relegation scrap with 10 to 12 other teams. A series of wins or non losses can creep you away from that. We're under no illusions of where we are at the moment.

"I don't see this as a catastrophic weekend for us. From now to the end of the season there'll be weekends that go for us and weekends that go against us. We're on the back of three games that we haven't lost. We've lost today, which is a bitter blow, but all we can do is look forward to the next game.

"What can smack you in the face is if you look at the games you have to win. At the moment all our thoughts are on the home game against Man U.

"I thought it was a spirited performance. We had the better opportunities, but there was that moment when we switched off and we were made to pay. We perhaps lacked that little bit of guile and composure we needed to break them down.

"We conceded at a very bad time and the goal gave them a lift. We were able to get back into the game. They were aware that we had to force the issue and at times we did - we at times took chances. When you're protecting a lead you do tend to get bodies back and I think they did that and defensively coped well."