Brighton's Adam Lallana explains real reason why he was dropped for Everton match

Adam Lallana accepts he is at a different stage of his career following his summer move from Liverpool and has to manage his minutes on the pitch carefully.

Lallana, 32, was excellent for Brighton during the painful 3-2 home defeat to Manchester United in the Premier League and was eager to play in the next match at Everton.

The former Southampton midfielder was however dropped to the bench by head coach Graham Potter as Yves Bissouma returned to the centre midfield, having served his three match suspension.

“I played against Manchester United and felt great and then it would have been nice to play the week after against Everton," said Lallana who started just three league games for Liverpool in 2019-20.

"But it took me a while to recover from the United game because it was my longest time on the pitch for seven or eight months.

“It’s going to take a little bit of time, but the manager has been fantastic. I want to train and play as much as I can, but he’s helped me and said I’m here for the long-term.

“I feel I can still have an impact around the group even when I’m not playing. The manager said I’m such a fit lad and that I don’t always have to do more work.

“It’s about doing what’s right for me and sometimes less is more. He’s been superb and hasn’t made me feel guilty about perhaps not doing so much as everyone else because I am at a different stage of my career.

“The gaffer understands that I’m probably at a different stage fitness-wise to a lot of the other lads."

Potter admitted after the loss at Everton that it was a tough choice to leave Lallana out at Goodison Park but the head coach wants to look after the former England international for the long term.

"It was a tough decision," Potter said. "Adam is still adapting to the role of playing a lot more football and the role he has in our group.

"Sometimes you need him at the back of the game and sometimes we will need him at the start."

Lallana was brought to the club not only for his skills on the pitch but the experience he has gained during an impressive career.

He gained the last of his 34 England caps against Italy in March 2018 and he won the Premier League, the Champions League, the Fifa Club World Cup and the Uefa Super Cup in his six-year spell at Anfield.

He has been impressed by what he has seen at Albion so far but also knows where and how they need to improve in order to convert impressive displays into points.

“We know as a group what we have to do better and we’ll keep working so that we don’t get punished when we play well and get the results that we deserve instead," Lallana said.

“We know we need to do all sides of the game to get results and I think we can improve.

"But it’s a process and combining that with the manager’s ideas will bring results and more points.”

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