Boss Joe Royle felt the Blues deserved three points against Brighton despite the Seagulls having had much the better of the first half. The Town manager also had praise for the 700-strong Blue Army at the Withdean Stadium.

Royle said: "Brighton were far better before the break but we then passed the ball and shaded the match."

Town's poor start to the game led to Royle replacing Matt Richards with Jim Magilton after 32 minutes: "It was a tactical change because we needed to get the skipper on and get him on the ball and he did just that.

"We were dire for 40 minutes but the skipper is a stubborn footballer, he wants the ball, he wants to pass the ball and we needed that. We were a lot better in the second half.

"I left him on the bench to rest him from the hurly-burly of an away game, but we needed him out there to get us going, to get us playing.

"I also have to praise our fans who were absolutely magnificent today. They gave the players a terrific reception going off at the break and we didn't deserve that. It made my half-time team-talk a lot easier.

"Overall, I have to be happy with the point. I certainly would have taken it after 40 minutes the way we were playing but, having said that, we created the better chances in the second half and could, and perhaps should, have won the match."

Royle was also impressed with Sam Parkin's fifth goal of the season and called on home fans to get behind the striker in the same way as the away support: "Sam has done fine for us. He has so far scored all his goals away from home and that is a shame for our home supporters.

"It was a great goal and he just needs the type of encouragement he received in this game."

Brighton boss Mark McGhee says his side need to be more clinical in front of goal: "We are not taking our chances or capitalising on good play enough.

"The fact that we weren't further ahead before half-time was a worry, and we gave away a poor goal with the scorer having a free header.

"We created a lot of chances and generally I was pleased with the performance. It was a good and acceptable result."

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