Graham Potter gives a brutal assessment as Brighton and Hove Albion exit FA Cup to Sheffield Wednesday

Albion head coach Graham Potter provided an honest assessment after they exited the FA Cup at the first hurdle against Championship side Sheffield Wednesday.
Graham Potter was far from impressed with Brighton's display in the FA Cup against Sheffield WednesdayGraham Potter was far from impressed with Brighton's display in the FA Cup against Sheffield Wednesday
Graham Potter was far from impressed with Brighton's display in the FA Cup against Sheffield Wednesday

It was a poor Albion display and Garry Monk's visitors deservedly progressed thanks to a deflected freekick in the second half from Adam Reach.

Brighton created a couple of half chances in the first half with Neal Maupay missing the best one as he delayed his shot while the keeper was out of his box.

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Aaron Connolly and Alireza Jahanbakhsh were both introduced after the break but Wednesday rarely looked in serious trouble and Albion, who reached the semi-finals of this competition last year, crashed out at the first attempt.

"Credit to Sheffield Wednesday, they deserve to go through," said Potter who made seven changes from the 1-1 draw against Chelsea on New Year's Day.

"We huffed and puffed but our second-half performance was disappointing. We wanted to to start well after the break but they were the better team.

"It was not a classic game of football but we need to do better. It would've been nice to have had a better performance and a victory. We wanted to win the game so we're disappointed.

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"We set out to win and we didn't so we're disappointed. The only thing we can do is learn from it."

Wednesday, who are seventh in the Championship and have lost their last three league matches, were delighted to progress.

It's the first time they have won an FA Cup game against Premier League opponents since the 1993 semi-final, when they beat Sheffield United 2-1 at Wembley.

"I was delighted with our attitude," said Wednesday boss Garry Monk. "We were up against a strong Premier League team and they fielded a strong squad. We are pleased with how we played and pleased to progress."

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The only downside to their afternoon was a nasty looking injury to their striker Steven Fletcher. The 32-year-old was stretchered off in the second half after a collision with Seagulls defender Geatan Bong.

He was seen writhing in agony holding his knee and was replaced by Sam Winnall.