Graham Potter expects great backing from Albion fans as his side take a shot at Arsenal.
The Seagulls’ head coach has laughed off suggestions he criticised supporters when he spoke about them urging players to shoot during the 0-0 draw with Norwich City.
Potter was clearly saying his players should make the right decisions although that was taken into a different context by at least one report, which claimed he said those calls put his players off.
The Albion boss said: “There’s two different conversations here.
“One about the media and headlines and there’s one about what I actually said.
“I thought the supporters were brilliant throughout the game and of course there is a natural shout to shoot, that’s what it is.
“Then there’s the challenge for the players for where to shoot and when to shoot.
“That was just a comment you see in football all over the place and it’s just about understanding that.
“I didn’t see the headline anyway.
“There was nothing from my perspective.”
Albion went for goal 31 times against the Canaries.
It is unlikely they will enjoy anything like that freedom at Arsenal.
Mikel Arteta’s side allow their opponents an average of 9.8 goal attempts per game at the Emirates.
Albion’s average for goal attempts away from home is a respectable 11.1 per match.
Potter said: “If you look at our performance against Norwich, it was closer to what we want to look like.
“Possession by itself isn’t that important, it’s about what you do with it.
“We created chances and had shots.
“The types of shooting and chances we were creating was closer to what we want to be.
“Sometimes the scoreline can affect the game.
“It might mean that your opponent sits back, there are a few factors.
“But, for us, for the Norwich game, we knew we had to attack better.
“We have never been a free-scoring side but we have tried to do better.”
Potter is aware much of the talk will be about finding the net, especially after his side scored just once in their last seven outings.
He said: “Football generally, as I understand the game, is 90 minutes and it’s quite low scoring.
“So generally most people have a challenge with scoring goals.
“That’s the game of football. We’re not playing basketball.
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“In training, you see the quality of the players but also you understand that the Premier League has Premier League defenders and it’s a low-scoring game.
“I think there’s probably a handful of people that can make the difference in the Premier League, that can score and can do something and so, if there’s a handful of people, then that means that the rest haven’t got that and you have to find a way, struggle, get a bit of luck, maximise everything you can to try to score and that’s what we’re trying to do.”
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