SHOWCASE-Soccer-Home comforts give Brighton's Gross reason to be cheerful
March 28 (Reuters) - Brighton and Hove Albion midfielder Pascal Gross believes their impressive home form is a strong enough reason to feel confident in their bid to beat the drop ahead of consecutive Premier League matches at the Amex Stadium.
Chris Hughton's side host Leicester City on Saturday and Huddersfield Town a week later before embarking on a difficult run which includes top-six teams Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool among their opponents.
Having won four consecutive games at the Amex in all competitions since losing to Chelsea in January, Gross reckons Brighton are a much-improved outfit since their 2-0 defeat at Leicester's King Power Stadium at the start of the campaign.
"We're always happy to play at the Amex and it's important that the next two league matches are there," Gross told the club website http://www.brightonandhovealbion.com.
"Personally, it was one of my worst games (at Leicester), but I just needed some time to adapt in the Premier League.
"I'm quite happy with how the season has gone for me, but I can only do it when we're playing well as a team. Come the end of the season, I'll only be happy if we've stayed up."
Brighton sit 12th in the league on 34 points from 30 games, six points above the drop zone.
Victories in the next two games could help them pull away from the relegation scrap and Gross hopes their recent warm-weather training camp in Portugal could set them up for a strong finish to the season.
"I like to train here (in Sussex), because we have perfect facilities, but sometimes it's nice to go away with the team for three or four days," the 26-year-old German added.
"It worked well for the team last season when I wasn't here, so we hope it can have the same effect again." (Reporting by Hardik Vyas in Bengaluru)
