Town forward Conor Chaplin believes Saturday’s clash with Brighton and Hove Albion is a game to be excited for and is looking forward to getting going again following the first international break of the season.

The Blues travel to the Amex Stadium this weekend looking for their first Premier League victory of the season and face a side who have made an excellent start and remain unbeaten, despite facing Manchester United and Arsenal in the opening three matches.

Guided by 31-year-old Fabian Hürzeler, the youngest permanent head coach in Premier League history, Brighton are embarking on their eighth straight season at this level.

Chaplin acknowledged the Seagulls bright start but is full of excitement for the weekend’s first top-flight meeting between the sides since 1983.

“They’ve been a good team in the Premier League for a number of years now, obviously with a bright new manager that they got fairly early in the summer as well,” he said.

“It’s a brand new manager but they’ve had a lot of time with him, it’s not like it was on the eve of the season and they’ve had some good training time. They are a very positive thinking, attacking team and one that have done well in the Premier League for the last few years.

“They always recruit well. Really good players, it’s the same for every game in the Premier League you’re going to come up against top players.

“It’s one that’s really exciting, excited to go to the stadium and play at the Amex. It's going to be a good one.”

Chaplin has 54 goals to his career tally at Town but is still waiting for his first in the Premier League, something the former Barnsley man would love to achieve in his home county of Sussex.

He said: “It would be nice! That would be amazing, it’s a fairly local game for me so I’ll have a lot of family there and things like that, obviously being down south so it’s one that I’m really excited for and looking forward to. It would be lovely to get my first goal.”

The Blues return from the September international break having had 10 first team players away with their respective countries. That meant Playford Road was less busy with fewer members of the squad available for training, something which Chaplin said Kieran McKenna was able to make the most of.

“Really good,” he said. “An intense group, I think we had 12 or 13 of us. Really important for the new lads that we signed in the summer that didn’t go away, probably a really good time to get really good details into the boys and some good training time as well.

“We’re going to get more of that this season than what we’ve been used to because of the schedule in general. Maximising the time training for international breaks is going to be big for us.

“Numbers changes the session in some sort of way, but also we’ve got good U21s players if needed to boost numbers and have a proper 11-v-11 then we can do. It’s probably more details in those weeks because it’s a chance to hone in on those things and the small details that the boss has implemented.”

Chaplin says the Premier League schedule of fewer matches and more breaks in the season is something he, along with many of the other members of the squad, will have to get used to.

“Probably for the majority of the squad, we’re all used to the EFL schedule throughout our careers,” he said. “It’s always Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday which you love as a player, but obviously in the Premier League it’s a lot of Saturday-Saturday and international breaks.

“I think probably the first couple of months seems like there’s breaks all the time because of the three international breaks and Saturday-Saturday games.

“We’re learning as well about that and the boss is big on using the international breaks to train harder than everyone else and improve a little bit.”

Due to the increase in competition with players such as Sammie Szmodics arriving at the club, Chaplin has seen his minutes drop so far this season having started against Liverpool but among the substitutes for the next two league fixtures.

Chaplin did record his 150th Town appearance last time out against Fulham, though, and he believes the role he plays has not been affected even if the time spent on the pitch has decreased.

“I don’t see my role changing,” he said. “It’s one where you have people coming into the football club to improve us and you’ve got to expect even higher competition. I think the realisation and reality of being in a Premier League squad is there’s going to be competition absolutely everywhere.

“Every single player you’d ask from the promotion squad whether we wanted to sign this amount of players would have all said yes. We definitely knew that it was going to be needed to try and thrive in the Premier League.

“That’s what we’re going to try and do, it doesn’t matter whether you’re used to starting every game or not. The characteristics within the group stay exactly the same and I think you can bring to the group what you’ve always brought to the group. That’s my belief.

“[The manager] trusts anyone in the squad to know their role when they come onto the pitch and to have an impact. That’s not for a manager to give you extra incentive, I don’t think you should need that. Coming off the bench you should be dialled in from a professional point of view regardless.”

As a member of the group that have climbed from League One to the Premier League, Chaplin was keen to mention the two key differences he has felt when stepping up the level in each of the last two years.

He said: “Quality, first and foremost, there’s definitely a step up in quality, and then athleticism being the second. Close to the quality as well, because the quality in League One and the Championship is top, but you come to the Premier League and the athleticism of every single player is at a top level.

“You’re in the best league in the world and within one per cent of everyone who plays football in the whole world. So you need to expect that, it really is that elite. They’re probably the two biggest differences you feel on gameday.

“For me, that should be your thought process regardless of what league you’re in. It’s always about daily improvement and always finding ways that you can get better.

“I think that becomes more evident if you make the step up in leagues like we have in the last couple of years. It’s probably forced upon you even if you’re not like that as a person, you’ve got to be otherwise you won’t be involved in the squad, you won’t be good enough if you don’t keep improving every single day.

“Luckily we’ve got a good blend of people here – staff and experienced players that demand it every day in training to keep the level as high as possible and keep getting better.”

Chaplin will be coming up against close friend and former Town defender Adam Webster, who the pair know each other from their time together at Fratton Park. The Blues number 10 spoke about the close bond and relationship the two have.

“I speak to him every day, he’s my best mate,” he said. “Not really too much about the game, I think we both know that no-one’s going to tell each other the teams so there’s no point in asking!

“We just talk about football all the time, usually chat to him for half an hour or so every morning when I’m on the dog walk, it’s probably no different this week.”

Finally, it is approaching a year since Chaplin became a father and the 27-year-old was asked how he is balancing football life with the life of being a dad.

He responded: “I’ve absolutely loved it. It’s been the best year of my life, obviously the same year that we got promoted to the Premier League so that makes it a little bit easier.

“It’s been the biggest blessing and I’ve enjoyed every single bit of it. I’m lucky enough to have an incredible partner that does a lot of the things that allows me to sleep and still be prepared in every single way that I need to be. It’s been amazing.”

Photo: Action Images

Edmundo added 12:52 - Sep 13 Unofficial vice captain for me. Chaplin oozes class as a person and a top footballer
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bucket99 added 22:54 - Sep 13 He's brilliant. Isn't he? :-)
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