We're heading in the right direction '“ Stephens

Midfielder Dale Stephens believes Brighton are heading in the right direction and feels they could be even better placed in the Premier League with a bit more luck.
Dale Stephens. Picture by Phil Westlake (PW Sporting Photography)Dale Stephens. Picture by Phil Westlake (PW Sporting Photography)
Dale Stephens. Picture by Phil Westlake (PW Sporting Photography)

Albion are 12th in the top flight with 23 points from 22 games and head to second-from-bottom West Brom on Saturday.

Stephens scored his first goal in 13 months as the Seagulls knocked arch rivals Crystal Palace out of the FA Cup on Monday but full attention has now been switched to this weekend’s crucial league fixture.

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West Brom have failed to win in 20 league matches and Stephens said: “They are in a position they don’t want to be in. Every game is an opportunity to kick-start a run of games where they are going to get themselves out of it.

“We are not veering away from what we need to achieve. We need to pick up more points. It’s a good game for us as well.

“Performance wise we’ve not played too bad. I don’t think we are a million miles away from completing what we need to do. We just need to be probably more focused in the final third. That’s the difference in this league.

“But performances have been decent. We have probably been unlucky on a few occasions to probably not pick up more points. We are heading in the right direction.

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“It will be tight from now until the end. We knew it would be like that. But we are not at the bottom, we are still mid-table. We have got a good opportunity at the weekend to stretch the margin and that’s what we have to do, look at every game individually and just build from there."

Stephens feels Albion's squad is strong enough to stay in the Premier League with or without a striker joining this month and said: "I think our squad is strong enough, I've said that before. But it would be nice to get a boost if we get a fresh face in.

"I'm confident with the squad we've got at the moment that we can achieve what we want to achieve and stay in this division."