Many congratulations to all concerned at Brighton and Hove Albion on reaching the Championship play-offs again (Sport, May 5).

The Championship league table clearly shows the reason behind the Albion’s success, which was achieved despite the popular complaint throughout the season that “we can’t score goals”.

Yeovil scored 44 goals, only one less than Brighton, and were relegated. However, the Albion conceded just 40 goals in 46 matches which proved, I believe, to be the main reason for their achievement.

The excellent book on football statistics, The Numbers Game, states that “A good attack, like a good defence, decreases the number of losses a club racks up, but defence provides a more powerful statistical explanation for why teams lose.”

Scoring an additional ten goals reduced a club’s number of defeats per season by 1.76; conceding ten fewer goals reduced defeats in the Premier League by 2.35 matches.

So when it came to avoiding defeat, the goals that clubs didn’t concede were each 33% more valuable than the goals they scored.

It has been an excellent team performance but I believe the outstanding partnership of defenders Gordon Greer and Matt Upson, together with goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak deserve additional praise.

Edward Scalé, Knoyle Road, Brighton