Bright & Hove Albion: Sami Hyypia considers fresh additions

Hyypia's Brighton side have not won a Championship game since beating Bolton on 23 August

Brighton & Hove Albion manager Sami Hyypia says he may have to bring in new players to bolster his struggling side.

The Seagulls are on a run of nine league games without a win, and are just one point above the Championship relegation zone.

"I am sure that results will come. If not with this XI then we need to find some recruits," he told BBC Sussex.

"If we need to we will bring (players in). If we turn the corner with this squad then we won't, maybe."

Former Liverpool defender Hyypia was appointed Brighton manager in June on a three-year deal, inheriting a side who had finished in the play-off places in the last two seasons.

After seeing a host of senior players leave the club, including striker Leonardo Ulloa, winger Will Buckley, midfielder Andrea Orlandi and goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak, Hyypia eventually made 10 signings before the end of the transfer window.

The 41-year-old Finn won two of his first four Championship games but has not tasted another league victory since beating Bolton on 23 August.

The East Sussex outfit have subsequently drawn six and lost three games.

One reason for Brighton's struggles has been the inability to replace the goals provided by Ulloa, who scored 14 in the league last season and joined Premier League Leicester City in an £8m deal in July.

Summer signings Sam Baldock and Chris O'Grady are yet to score, while Craig Mackail-Smith has netted just one league goal this season.

O'Grady was recalled to the starting line-up for Tuesday's 1-1 draw at Huddersfield, having come off the bench at half-time in the 2-1 defeat by Middlesbrough on Saturday.

"I thought we would get a lot of balls played in the box (against Huddersfield) and we needed somebody to put them in," said Hyypia.

"We got balls in the box in the first half but maybe our movements weren't that great. In the second half we couldn't get the ball in the box any more.

"Chris held the ball okay a few times and was battling hard. It was an idea that he is in the box and putting the ball in the back of the net."

O'Grady is yet to score for Brighton & Hove Albion since moving to the Amex Stadium

Seven Championship clubs have already changed manager this season but ex-Albion boss Alan Mullery, who is now a club ambassador at the Amex Stadium, believes Hyypia should be given more time to turn the club's fortunes around.

Hyypia is confident of an upturn in results but is also wary their defensive performances must improve.

"We need to keep the faith and keep positive," he added. "A lot of times this season we have conceded early and then have to chase the game. It is not a very good starting point.

"We are making it more difficult for ourselves."

With Brighton's strikers failing to find the net, centre-back Lewis Dunk is the club's top scorer so far this season, with five goals in all competitions.

"It's just dropping into the right areas in the box and I'm finishing them," said the 22-year-old defender.

"It's just frustrating that we're not getting that win but we'll keep going. We believe in ourselves and know we are a good side. It will come."