Burnley boss Sean Dyche felt his side dominated their 1-1 draw with Brighton at Turf Moor but admitted the two teams are very evenly matched.
The Clarets missed the chance to go second in the Sky Bet Championship ahead of Brighton but recovered well after conceding a Bobby Zamora goal after just 57 seconds, equalising through an Andre Gray penalty.
And after a disastrous start to the game, Dyche was pleased with the reaction of his players to get straight back in it.
"I thought they got a very fortuitous start. I've seen it back and every time we blocked it, it seems to land perfectly for their player, so I won't be too critical of my players for that," said Dyche.
"But our reaction, as ever, was first class. It was a definite penalty, which is good because we've had a lot not given this season.
"Then after that, the game was pretty even first half and I thought second half, chances wise, we were productive and had the best chances to go and win it.
"Brighton are a good side and they've made a mark for themselves this season by being unbeaten.
"We've opened up enough chances to win the game. But it was a very close game between two even sides I feel.
"The good thing I like about this group is they don't take knocks to heart. They come and react immediately and I thought they did. I thought we were on the front foot for a lot of the game against a good side."
Brighton boss Chris Hughton agreed it was the right result, but asked for more consistency with shirt pulling in the box, which led to the Burnley penalty.
"I thought it was a fair result actually. After two very early goals, I suppose a lot of people might have thought it was going to be that type of game," he said.
"But you've got two teams here that are both motivated and want to try and win and certainly don't want to lose.
"I think on the balance of play it was a fair result, particularly with us being the away team and Burnley being a very good team.
"As regards the penalty decision, we're not saying that Lewis Dunk didn't have part of the lad's shirt but I think it was a little bit of each. The disappointing thing for me is that you see that game in, game out in whatever league.
"I can guarantee you that if I go and see a game midweek or next Saturday, you'll see some of that.
"Probably that's what's more disappointing to me, that he chose to give it in this game and give it against us."
Source: PA
