ALBION boss Chris Hughton admits his side were below-par against Crystal Palace last night – but is satisfied with another point towards Premier League survival.

The Seagulls had to settle for a 0-0 draw against their arch-rivals, a fourth stalemate in a row at the Amex.

The players looked jaded after Saturday’s unfortunate 1-0 defeat at Manchester United and the home draw against Stoke five days earlier.

Hughton told The Argus: “If I look at the pluses and the minuses, when you know you haven’t played as well as you have been or you can do, firstly you’ve got to make sure you don’t lose the game.

“Probably it was a little bit like that.

“We gave the ball away more often than I’ve seen us in the last few games put together but sometimes that can happen.

“It might just be the volume of games, coming down from the game on Saturday, but around that if you can still not lose that’s a positive.”

Albion have now shared the points with Everton, Southampton, Stoke and Palace at the Amex.

“I would put that down to this division,” Hughton said.

“Palace were on the back of a good win (against Stoke) and they are very strong on paper with a lot of ability.

“Stoke are incredibly experienced in this division and Southampton. We are playing against better teams and the Amex is not a bad place to come and play. What we could get away with in the Championship it’s harder to do in this division.”

Palace manager Roy Hodgson said: “I’m satisfied with it. It was probably a fair result.

“Both sides had their moments in the game.

“I’m particularly pleased for us that we could keep a clean sheet.”

Albion have dropped a place to tenth, Leicester sneaking above them on goals scored after beating Spurs.

Hughton expects left-back Gaetan Bong, sidelined last night by a minor knee injury, to be fit for Liverpool’s visit on Saturday.