Brighton players remain grounded about play-off clash with Derby

Promotion through the playoffs is the ideal way to get to the Premier League according to Brighton and Hove Albion captain Gordon Greer. He said: “it’s a dream come true to go up through the playoffs. There’s a lot to be done between now and then , we’ll be giving everything for the next couple of games and see where it takes us.”

Albion will be looking to exorcise their demons when they face Steve McClaren’s side at the Amex tomorrow evening. Brighton lost both league meetings with Derby earlier in the season and are definite underdogs going into the playoff showdown. It’s shaping up to be a great battle for the neutral; Derby are the highest scoring team in the league while Albion have the second best defence.

Brighton scraped into the playoffs in dramatic fashion with a last-gasp header from Leo Ulloa against Nottingham Forest. The Seagulls’ chances of making the end of season face-off depended on them bettering Reading’s result against Premier League bound Burnley. As full time blew on a 2-2 draw between Reading and Burnley, Brighton were being held 1-1 at Forest’s City Ground – it seemed Brighton were to miss their chance.

But, the final day of the season always seems to conjure an extra bit of magic that calls on certain players to write their own script. Like all great stories, Albion waited until stoppage time for Craig Mackail-Smith to float a perfectly timed cross that met Ulloa’s glancing forehead and sent the travelling fans into pandemonium.

Scottish Defender Greer thinks Ulloa can be unstoppable, he stated: “Anyone who’s seen us play, on his day he’s unbelievable, hopefully for the next two games he’s unplayable and scores a few goals.”