Stephens pleased to break Premier League duck

Brighton & Hove Albion midfielder Dale Stephens had mixed emotions following Albion's 2-2 draw with West Ham on Wednesday, reports James Wootton.
Dale Stephens scores at West Ham. Picture by PW Sporting PhotographyDale Stephens scores at West Ham. Picture by PW Sporting Photography
Dale Stephens scores at West Ham. Picture by PW Sporting Photography

The 29-year-old scored his first Premier League goal after a fine left-footed strike put the Seagulls ahead, but even though Shane Duffy doubled the advantage, the points were shared away after a Marko Arnautovic inspired comeback from the Hammers.

Reflecting on his strike, Stephens said: “It fell in between two of their players and I ring the box, it’s more of a defensive thing than an attacking option but I managed to get good contact on the ball and was happy to see it go in.

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It’s obviously nice to score, I don’t score many but the overall feeling is that we’re disappointed not to win, not to get the three points. We feel like it’s two points dropped.

“We had enough going forward to put the game to bed before they even scored their first goal – 2-0 is always a tricky scoreline and unfortunately we let that slip.

“They scored their first one and the crowd got behind them and we had to quieten the crowd again afterwards, and the second goal in quick succession has probably taken the stuffing out of us in the end.”

Stephens added: “I think maybe tomorrow we’ll look at it and realise we are progressing, we’ve come a long way since the start of last season, that’s all we can do as players and as a club.”

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