Gus Poyet has attacked the jealousy surrounding Albion’s leadership of League One and claims his players are not getting the credit they deserve.

The Seagulls are often labelled as big spenders, which the manager insists is misleading and unfair.

Poyet told The Argus: “I am realistic and I am happy with the situation and what the club is giving me. Like anyone else, if you can get more you will get more. You are trying always to get the most from the club and the chairman but I think there is a little bit of jealousy around about Brighton.

“That it is all about the new stadium and the money that the chairman and company have got. That is not giving the players the credit they deserve.

“They deserve more. It’s not true that it is all about money. I feel bad for the players. There are players here who have been main players this season who were involved in relegation battles for the previous two years, so give them credit.

“It’s not easy to go from a relegation battle to the top of the league and to stay at the top for three months.

“We are there because we deserve to be there, even if in the last few weeks we haven’t won any games in the league.

“When we got to the top I don’t think there were many people in England who thought we would still be there by Christmas. That is credit to the players. They have been outstanding, even though there are many people who it looks like would love to see us failing."

Read the full story plus two pages of Albion news in The Argus today