A warning to the npower Championship: Brighton & Hove Albion, League One’s runaway leaders, will do more than merely make up the numbers next season.
The club’s eight-game winning run came to an end at Spotland as they were held to a draw by a Rochdale side harbouring promotion hopes of their own and the result left Gustavo Poyet, the Brighton manager, disappointed.
However, Chris O’Grady, the Rochdale forward, was quick to offer a few words of comfort. He insisted that promotion is a certainty for Brighton and expects them to do well at a higher level providing they adjust to their new surroundings at the Apex Stadium.
“The way they control the ball and bring it out from the back puts them in a different class to most of the other teams we have encountered in this league,” O’Grady said.
Rochdale took the lead against the run of play when Will Atkinson scored in the 22nd minute after Robbie Williams’s free kick struck a post.
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Chris Wood made amends for a glaring third-minute miss when he converted from the penalty spot after Craig Dawson’s foul on Glenn Murray.
Gary Dicker’s powerful header edged Brighton ahead minutes into the second half, only for Gary Jones to equalise from the spot after Tommy Elphick had felled O’Grady.
Rochdale (4-3-3): O Fon Williams — R Williams, C Dawson, M Holness, S Wiseman (sub: J Widdowson, 79min) — G Jones, M Done, J Kennedy (sub: B Barry-Murphy, 72) — W Atkinson, C O’Grady, N Adams. Substitutes not used: M Edwards, J-L Akpa Akpro, Joe Thompson, Josh Thompson, L Dickinson. Booked: Kennedy, Wiseman.
Brighton & Hove Albion (4-3-3): C Ankergren — M Painter, G Greer, T Elphick, I Calderón — G Dicker, L Bridcutt (sub: C Noone, 13), R Kishishev (sub: A Navarro, 71) — E Bennett, G Murray, C Wood (sub: F Sandaza, 81). Substitutes not used: P Brezovon, M Sparrow, M Taricco, L Dunk. Booked: Painter, Navarro.