Potter booed on Brighton return but says ‘I have nothing to apologise for’

The home fans relished new coach Roberto De Zerbi’s Brighton side putting Chelsea to the sword, singing “You’re getting sacked in the morning” and “Potter, what’s the score” in the direction of their former manager.

“You have to suffer and feel pain in order to grow and get better.” said Potter

Chelsea manager Graham Potter said he had nothing to apologise to Brighton & Hove Albion fans for after he was booed by some supporters as his new side were thrashed 4-1 by his former club on the Blues boss’s return to the south coast.

Potter was greeted by some jeers as he took to the pitch for their Premier League game at the Amex Stadium on Saturday despite exceeding expectations during three years as Brighton manager before leaving to take the Chelsea job last month.

The home fans relished new coach Roberto De Zerbi’s Brighton side putting Chelsea to the sword, singing “You’re getting sacked in the morning” and “Potter, what’s the score” in the direction of their former manager.

“I have nothing to apologise or say sorry for,” Potter said. “I think I did a good job at the club and left it in a good place but people are entitled to their opinions.

“It’s part of the process. You have to suffer and feel pain in order to grow and get better. Nobody said we were the finished article. We have to take the pain today and learn from it.”

Leandro Trossard’s early strike and two own goals saw Chelsea trail 3-0 by halftime, leaving them with too much to do in the second half as Potter tasted defeat for the first time since taking over at Stamford Bridge.

The Blues conceded double the number of goals on Saturday as they did in their first five league matches under the new boss.

“You can always look at goals and think you can do better. We have to take responsibility a bit in the first half,” Potter added.

“We have had a lot of football but that’s no excuse. We couldn’t quite get to that level. We didn’t take our opportunities in attack and they did.

“We had some opportunities to attack them too but unfortunately we missed the pass or didn’t execute, then the scoreline was a painful one. When you lose you can always do better.”