Brighton defender, Shane Duffy has said his team will replicate their sturbbon display against Manchester City in the FA Cup semi-final when they both meet in the EPL on Sunday.
Pep’s team only have to beat Brighton and win the EPL trophy but Duffy has other ideas.
His words, “When you play them it’s about having to deal with constant pressure upon pressure, they come at you from everywhere, and it’s such a difficult game,” said Duffy, who has been voted Brighton’s player of the year.
“All the players are excited to spoil the party. I’ve had a few Everton fans texting me, telling me to let them through but I’m professional. I’m not at Everton any more. I’m at Brighton and this is my club now.
“We can’t really get sucked into what favours we do for some people and not for others. I’m sure Crystal Palace fans didn’t want their own team to win against Cardiff last weekend [and confirm Brighton’s survival in the process] but we’re footballers. We have a job to do.
“They have world-class players used to handling the pressure and, in truth, if anyone had offered them the chance to beat Brighton to win the league at the start of the season, they’d have taken it. But we want to beat one of the best teams in the world and do this club proud. That would give us a big buzz.
“We did quite well against them in the semi-final, and even in the first game in the Premier League [a 2-0 City win at the Amex in August 2017] we felt we were in it.
“If we can play like we did in the second half at Wembley then you never know. We’re going to have to defend very well again and be hard to break down.
“It’s 90 minutes’ concentration, similar to the Tottenham game [which was lost on 88 minutes]. It’s going to be a lot of defending, blocked shots and saves from the goalkeeper. Hopefully we can take our chances this time and give our own fans a day to remember.”
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