Fabian Hurzeler admitted Brighton “didn’t play at their highest level” as they drew 0-0 with Jablonec in the Conference League.
Brighton have been flying high this season and come into this match on the back of a six-game winning streak in all competitions, having scored 22 goals in this competition.
However, they were unable to celebrate Hürzeler’s 100th game in charge of the club with another victory as they held to an unusual goalless stalemate.
Georginio Rutter, who scored a brace in the last Conference League match, missed two good chances before the break, while Malik Yalkuye thought he had sealed defeat on 50 minutes, only to be ruled offside.
Jablonec could have grabbed the win late on, though, as Bart Verbruggen stepped up to deny Jiri Slama and Vakhtang Tchanturishvili, earning a fifth consecutive clean sheet in all competitions.
Hurzeler named a much-changed side from the 5-0 thrashing of Crystal Palace in the Premier League last time out, and he stressed the need to improve fundamentals going forward.
“We didn’t play at the highest level; Jablonec defended well and protected the box well, moved well in transition. Overall, not the result we wanted, but we have to move on,” he told TNT Sports.
“If you’re playing at 0-0, you’re not creating enough; that’s definitely something we need to do better.
“We have to understand what it takes to play in this Cup. We understand that we have to be brilliant in the fundamentals. We weren’t good in the fundamentals; that’s something we have to improve on.”
Finishes level with FK Jablonec.
— Brighton & Hove Albion (@BHAFC) October 22, 2026
Brighton certainly had their chances, having only 26 shots, although only four of them were on target, for just 1.42 expected goals (xG).
They also had 56 possessions, made 63 final-thirds and finished with 72.1% possession, but Jablonec maintained their discipline to shut out Brighton.
When asked why Brighton struggled to find a way, Hurzeler added: “They defend well and don’t put them through where we want them to. The last move lacked precision; that’s something we need to improve on.
“The longer the game went on, the more space there was to make transitions. We tried to push hard to score and of course they had space to counter-move. We were lucky at certain points.
“We’re always learning. I think it’s important to take everything from this game and improve in the next game. There’s no time to be too disappointed; we have to focus on the next game.”