Brighton boss gives verdict on midfielder's performance against former club Chelsea

Albion endured a frustrating afternoon at Stamford Bridge on Sunday in the 3-2 loss, meaning they have won just one of their last eight Premier League games. On a day full of contentious decisions, the Seagulls conceded a second-half penalty when James Milner was adjudged to have fouled Mykhailo Mudryk in the box.

De Zerbi wouldn't be drawn on whether it was a penalty or not but did say midfielder Gilmour, who he said impressed in the match, could have done more to prevent the spotkick which came from a rapid counter attack.

The Italian head coach told BBC Match of the Day: "He [Gilmour] is becoming a very good player. In that situation, the third goal when we conceded the penalty he could have organised better with more personality and responsibility. But anyway, I’m really pleased with his performance."

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Although Brighton had beaten Nottingham Forest and AEK Athens in their last two matches in all competitions, De Zerbi felt those performances were not as good as the one against Chelsea.

Although they lost ground to the European places, the former Shakhtar Donetsk boss is confident the club has a very bright future.

"We played another great game. Much better than AEK Athens, much better than Nottingham Forest. The quality of the play was great but there are a lot of teams with incredible quality in set pieces and set pieces are part of football. You need to be more focused with a different attitude," he said.

"I’m really happy for the future of the club but I want to win now and I want to reach the target now because we have to do better. We have to play in a stronger way."