Hughton wants Brighton to keep capitalising on their favourable run of fixtures

Brighton boss Chris Hughton has urged his team to continue capitalising on their favourable run of fixtures.

Albion were handed a difficult start to the Premier League campaign and faced four of last season’s top six clubs in their opening seven matches.

The 12th-placed Seagulls travel to struggling Cardiff on Saturday midway through a stretch of nine games against teams in mid-table or lower.

They have already taken nine points from those fixtures, beating West Ham, Newcastle and Wolves before their winning streak was ended with defeat at Everton last weekend.

After the trip to south Wales, Albion play Leicester, Huddersfield, Crystal Palace and Burnley.

“It’s a crucial period for us but when you play in this division you always go through spells like that,” said Hughton, according to the club’s official website.

“The law of averages obviously says that you’ll get more points against the sides who are not in the top six or seven – but you have to be able to capitalise on that run.

“It goes without saying that when you get used to this league you recognise that trips to teams who aren’t in the top six might not be as daunting – but this is still only our second season in the division.”

Brighton, who have already played Manchester United, Liverpool, Tottenham and champions Manchester City, are currently nine points better off than Neil Warnock’s 19th-placed Bluebirds.

However, Hughton remains wary of the threat posed by the promoted side.

“We know them quite well as a team, and their level of performance this season has been relatively good on the whole despite the results,” he added.

“They’re at home and they’ll have good backing from the crowd, so our approach is exactly the same as any other away game.

“But every game is an opportunity for us.”

Seagulls winger Alireza Jahanbakhsh is a major doubt for the game due to a hamstring strain.

Midfielders Pascal Gross and Davy Propper remain sidelined with ankle problems, while back-up goalkeeper David Button is expected to be unavailable because of a knee issue.