By Harry Slavin For The Daily Mail
Published: 22:31 BST, 14 April 2019 | Updated: 23:02 BST, 14 April 2019
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In their bid to stave off the unthinkable, Brighton can no longer afford to bottle it.
They host Cardiff on Tuesday night knowing that victory should all but secure their top-flight status, but it was never supposed to come to this.
After a 2-2 draw at West Ham on January 2, they were 10 points clear of the drop and sat comfortably in mid-table. Now, following a devastating 5-0 defeat at home to Bournemouth — their heaviest at The Amex since moving in — Chris Hughton's side sit just one place and five points above the third and final relegation spot.
Brighton suffered a humiliating 5-0 defeat to Bournemouth on Saturday at the Amex Stadium
Chris Hughton admitted that their clash with Cardiff has become more important after the loss
Only Fulham and Huddersfield, the two clubs to have already waved goodbye to their Premier League status this season, have collected fewer points than Brighton's eight in 2019. The Seagulls are no longer soaring.
'We were obviously in a good place,' said Hughton. 'But you always know it's going to be difficult, particularly because of the league we are playing in.
'This is still a level of club that needs to be fighting in every game. What I was hoping, and didn't think, was that we would be was scrapping as much as we are having to scrap now. And what I certainly didn't see was the performance today.'
Saturday's hammering was not the way Hughton would have envisaged kicking off a hectic schedule that sees his side play five
