Yahoo Sport 
Brighton Fan View: Forget other results, it's all about what we do
With eight games to go and an international break, it is the perfect time for Brighton fans to start working out permutations.
Sitting 12th in the table on 34 points is not a position I thought we would be in at this stage of the season, having gone into the campaign aiming for fourth bottom in the table and nothing more.
However, we are not foolish enough to think we are safe yet, particularly with an incredibly hard run of games to finish the season.
READ MORE: Manchester United Fan View: 3 things learned from FA Cup win over Brighton
READ MORE: Gossip – Man Utd ‘want Neymar’ in mammoth swap deal
So, trying to work out how many more points we need, who we need to win, who we need to lose is a natural response for anyone with a Brighton connection right now.
It would be easy to think West Brom are gone, certainly in terms of us. They are ten points from safety with only seven games to play and, more significantly, 14 points behind Brighton. That means they have to win five of their remaining games just to catch us.
Stoke are seven points behind, so that means getting two wins and a draw from their seven games just to catch us. Again, that is looking positive.
However, then it becomes a little worrying. Southampton are six behind but you would expect a positive response to the appointment of Mark Hughes as manager, then West Ham and Crystal Palace are only four behind, Huddersfield and Swansea three and Newcastle just two. A couple of poor results for us and good results for others could change the entire outlook of that bottom end of the table.
Slammed: An unfortunate Lewis Dunk own goal meant Manchester United were able to overcome a spirited Brighton
That’s why, really, the only results Brighton should be looking for are our own. Forget the permutations, stop doing the maths and let’s be the masters of our own destiny. Two more wins from our last eight games and we don’t need to look at the table anymore.
And two wins is very achievable, despite that tough finish which I mentioned. Our next three games are Leicester and Huddersfield at home, then Crystal Palace away. By the time we play Tottenham they may be focusing on the FA Cup – their best chance of silverware this season – while Manchester City could quite conceivably have wrapped up the title before we play them.
Of course, it was disappointing to lose our FA Cup quarter-final to Manchester United last Saturday, but our performance in that game has given us every encouragement that we can get the points we need to stay up.
Jose Mourinho may have downplayed how well Brighton did, but I thought we were terrific in spells and creating 12 second-half chances compared to the hosts’ one (which they scored from) is not the sort of statistics you expect at Old Trafford, whoever the opposition is.
Pascal Gross again displayed in that game what a terrific signing he has been and how crucial he is to Brighton’s chances of staying up. It was also really pleasing to see Jurgen Locadia cause real problems to supposedly experienced defenders in Chris Smalling and Eric Bailly (not that I would swap either of them for Lewis Dunk). Locadia may have to make the most of the minutes he gets, with the form Glenn Murray is in, but he showed against United that he will be a real handful in the Premier League.
Brighton are certainly not safe yet, but we have every chance of staying up and it is in own hands. So let’s concentrate on our own results, rather than looking out for others.
