Brighton Fan View: Why, Sky? Albion vs Stoke City is an odd Monday Night Football Selection

Our Brighton Blogger Seagull Griggo wonders why have Sky Sport picked Albion vs Stoke for Monday Night Football… it doesn’t fill him nostalgia!

Excuse me for a lack of excitement but Brighton versus Stoke is not a fixture which fills me with happy memories.

For our first Monday night spot as a Premier League club, it is certainly not the game I would have picked but let’s hope any pessimism can be swept aside by a rip-roaring display from the Seagulls and another three points to continue our fine start to the season.

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In fact, my mood ahead of Monday’s showdown goes against most other emotions I am feeling as a Brighton fan right now.

We are sitting pretty at eighth in the Premier League, are four match unbeaten and a tally of 15 points from 11 games is certainly a few more than I expected us to know. There are good times for the club, so why such a feeling of foreboding? Why? Because it’s Stoke.

In case you had not guessed, Brighton’s record against Stoke in recent times is miserable. Miserable? No, it’s worse than that.

Here are the facts: we have lost the last eight games in a row to Stoke; we have scored just three goals in that sequence; the last three matches have been 3-0, 5-1 and 3-0 to Stoke; and we have won just one of the last 16 fixtures between the sides.

Partly because of the results, but the games themselves are pretty unforgettable. Our only win in those 16 matches was a 1-0 success at Withdean decided by a Paul Watson goal in the 90^th minute. The result was great but the game itself wasn’t.

As someone who was a season-ticket holder when Brighton were last in the top-flight of English football, I was brought up on going to Brighton v Stoke because you were a fan, rather than turning up with unbridled optimism. In eight clashes between the sides in the old First Division between 1979 and 1983, there were four 0-0 draws, one 1-1 draw and three wins for Stoke.

In 39 meetings with Stoke, Brighton have only won on nine occasions and six of those were by a single goal.

Now, don’t let me put you off watching Monday’s game, but also don’t expect a 6-3 win for Chris Hughton’s men.

Then again, I would not care if Brighton ground out a boring 1-0 win, because this season is about points and about survival. It has been a positive season and we are playing well in the confines of what we have. And we will be helped by Stoke being without Jack Butland, who is a quality keeper and should be ahead of Joe Hart in terms of an England place when he is fit.

We have options within the Brighton squad now too, with Beram Kayal and Sam Baldock ready to return to first-team action, and we have a goalkeeper of our own – Mathew Ryan – who is in great form and will be on a high after helping Australia qualify for the World Cup finals this week. Oh yes, we also have Glenn Murray on a roll, with four goals in three games.

Maybe I have talked myself around! Bring on Monday.

@GriggoHome