Boss Chris Hughton admitted his side were second best as Brighton & Hove Albion fell to a lacklustre defeat against Huddersfield Town.

A first-half brace from Steve Mounié was the difference on a frustrating afternoon for the Seagulls as Hughton pointed to defensive mistakes being the biggest downside to his team's showing.

"I'm incredibly disappointed," Hughton said. "Huddersfield are a very good side at home and if you afford them the goals that we did it becomes very difficult.

"We never allowed ourselves to get into the rhythm we needed to - we improved in the second half, but by that point we were catching up a bit.

“We capitalised on some space that appeared but when you come away from home in this division and find yourself two goals down, it's always difficult.

“Certainly the better team won today, but the two goals, particularly the first one, were disappointing."

The Brighton boss also explained why he chose to leave Anthony Knockaert out of his matchday squad.

"I just made a decision," he said. "Their full-backs play very high and wide and I felt we needed to be compact.

"The team formation didn't have anything to do with the goals we conceded."