Brighton & Hove Albion boss Chris Hughton has denied claims that the Seagulls choke at the business end of the season.
Huddersfield Town boss David Wagner had previously spoken about Brighton's failure to achieve promotion in 2012/13, 2013/14 and 2015/16, despite featuring in the play-offs in all the of those seasons.
Last year Brighton needed a victory against Derby County in their penultimate game to require just a point from their last match against Middlesbrough.
The Seagulls only managed a draw against the Rams and were also held by Boro, resigning them to a play-off semi-final against Sheffield Wednesday.
Last week, Wagner told the Examiner: "Brighton, from my point of view - and this is what I hear from people with much more experience in British football than me - have struggled in the past very often at the end of the season.
"Nobody knows what happens, but for Newcastle I am totally sure [they will get promoted] for Brighton we will see."
But the ex-Newcastle and now Brighton boss disagrees.
Ahead of the Seagulls' 3-0 win over Derby on Friday, Hughton was asked about last season's draw and the consequences it had on the south coast club's season.
“It was close to the end, a home game," the manager told the Argus.
“It was a game at that stage of the season we had to win to put us in a better position. Probably that was the one. But what we have here is a very good and competitive group of players."
The boss went on to reject the 'chokers' title his side have been branded with.
He continued: "People will always put their take on losing a game, the word choking and so on.
“I never see it that way. This is always such a competitive league. You cannot win all of your games.
“There will be some games where you reach your levels, others that you can’t. Even in that game [Derby] I wouldn’t have put it down to the fact that the occasion was too big. It’s just down to the fact that you are playing against very good opposition every week.
“Thankfully for us, on more occasions than not, we’ve reached very good levels this season. As regards to what the players put into every game, mentally they are in a very good position in the large majority of the games they play. It’s more about the competition levels than choking.”
