Gross admits to

Brighton and Hove Albion FC Football Sport

Pascal Gross believes Brighton should go into next season’s Conference League full of belief.

But he admits they left themselves vulnerable to late disappointment.

The Seagulls secured European qualification for only the second time in the club’s 125-year history, despite suffering a 3-0 home defeat to Manchester United on the final day of the Premier League campaign.

Crystal Palace will play Rayo Vallecano on Wednesday in the final of this season’s Conference League, while West Ham and Chelsea have won the competition in recent years.

Gross, who rejoined the club when they were 14th in the table in January, felt Albion could have finished higher than eighth.

But he told Sky Sports: “We should go in there with full confidence, of course.

“In the Conference League everything is possible. The Premier League clubs are strong so hopefully we can go really far.

“We wanted to achieve something even bigger but it was also possible to get nothing.

Mitoma starts road to recovery as his ex-coach asks, 'Why would God do this?' Hinsh is fired up after Tuchel named him on World Cup list Hurzeler's tribute to March as winger expected to move on How does Conference League work and how much could it be worth for Albion?

“We have to put it in the bigger picture, and the bigger picture is Brighton and Hove Albion in Europe, which is something really nice."

Albion secured UEFA football when they heard Brentford had failed to win at Liverpool.

Gross said: “It was really nervous in the last two minutes when we knew the other teams were still playing and you rely on others.

"But in the end we’ve been the lucky ones.”

Eight of the 16 players who appeared against United, including Gross, were part of Albion's Europa League campaign in 2023-24.