Brighton head coach Fabian Hürzeler admitted his side did not play their “best game” despite securing an important 1-0 UEFA Conference League victory at Getafe.

The Seagulls expected a challenging European night against a Los Azulones side desperate for Conference League points and famed for their defensive aptitude.

There were only seven shots on target from the two sides on the night, despite there being some brilliant end-to-end passages of play.

While Brighton secured an 11th clean sheet from their first 16 matches of this season, and rose to 5th in the League Phase table thanks to Malick Yalcouyé’s 64th-minute header, Hürzeler felt there was much to improve.

“That's exactly the game we expected,” said Hürzeler.

“We expected the opponent defending a low block, being very disciplined. That’s exactly what they did this season, also last season, and we had to show a lot of patience.

“It was not our best game, to be honest. We were not that clean in our actions. We were not that clear in our structure, but overall, we had to take the positives away.

“A third clean sheet in a row. We scored [with] the right moment to go. We're in a good position at the table, and now we have to recover well, and we have to be ready for Brentford.”

While displeased with the open nature of the game, in which Iván Azón forced Bart Verbruggen into an excellent first-half save, Hürzeler did credit the organisation on display, and the performance of his goalscorer.

For Yalcouyé, it was a fourth goal of the season following equally impressive strikes against Chelsea, Coventry City and Manchester City.

“I think Malick has different skills, and one skill for me is that he can attack the box well, and he didn't only show it today,” said Hürzeler.

“I think he already proved it through the whole season. He is capable of scoring goals, and I'm really happy for him that he made this run into the box at the right moment and had a good finish with his head, even though he's quite small.”

Brighton enjoyed an excellent spell after Yalcouyé’s goal, controlling possession and going close to netting a second as a last-ditch tackle denied Georginio Rutter.

While Getafe responded by throwing on all of their attacking options, Brighton then held out well in the final 10 minutes.

When asked about his substitutions, Hürzeler said he wanted his side to be ruthless.

“I think it's always important to have the courage to change offensively, and that's what we did also with our changes,” said the 33-year-old.

“We brought in [Ibrahim] Osman, who's a very offensive winger. We tried to bring in Diego [Goméz], who's another offensive winger, and we wanted to go for the second goal.

“I think we had one or two big chances after the first goal to make it 2-0 in the end.

“Of course, Getafe tried everything. A lot of long balls, a lot of second balls to go for the chance. But we're very disciplined in defending.

“[But] I'm preferring always to be very offensive and have the courage to go for the second.”

With their Premier League campaign going well above expectations at this stage - as they sit 3rd behind Manchester City and Arsenal - Brighton have applied pressure on themselves for the coming weeks.

An international break awaits after the test of Brentford at the Amex Stadium this Sunday, and the next Conference League game does not come until Thursday 26th November against Universitatea Craiova.

During a busy winter, though, they will want to maintain their push in the Champions League places while also securing automatic progression to the Conference League’s Round of 16.

Faced with this pressure, Hürzeler asserted he was not focusing on those targets himself.

“I think we are never a club, and I'm never a coach, who focuses only on results. Therefore, we really try to focus on the process,” said the German.

“When we see the process we are in, we are on a good level, but we want to get on a very good level, and therefore you need to keep focusing on improvements.

“Of course, good results always help to build confidence, to build belief. But I want to see players who have the hunger to improve every day. I want to see players who were not satisfied with being in the situation.

“We have another tough challenge on Sunday against Brentford, and then we have to show this hunger again to be at the highest level, because that's needed against Brentford.”