Watch: Graham Potter jeered by Brighton fans as Chelsea team coach arrives at Amex Stadium

Potter, who was at Brighton for three mostly successful seasons, left last month with Albion fourth in the Premier League to join Chelsea after they sacked their previous coach Thomas Tuchel.

Albion fans were upset with the timing of his departure and some made their feelings known as Potter arrived with his new team – although there was also some polite applause as well. Former Brighton player Bruno also received a few boos, as did Marc Cucurella, who left Albion last summer to join Chelsea for £60m.

It’s the first time the Chelsea head coach as been back at the Amex since his departure.

The former Swansea and Ostersund man has enjoyed a fine start at Stamford Bridge and is currently unbeaten in nine matches, having delivered encouraging results in the Premier League and the Champions League.

In contrast, Brighton have struggled since his exit and new Italian head coach Roberto De Zerbi has two points from a possible 15 in his first five matches.

Performances have however been encouraging under De Zerbi and the new Brighton man is determined to turn those displays to victories, starting against Chelsea.

On his predecessor’s return, De Zerbi said: “Graham Potter did a very good and very big job here and I have to say thanks for this team.

“But in football you can know everything, and you can lose the same.

“I have changed some things in this last month and we are able to play the right game.

“I am happy in terms of the performances, but I can’t be 100 per cent happy because the results have not been good for us.

“But I follow my way, my idea, and the players and believe in themselves.

“I want to win our first game, to change the moment. The moment is not bad but when the results are not good you are a bit sad.

“The quality of play, the individual skills we show have been very good but, of course, we need that first win.”

During the build-up to the match, Potter highlighted the mental health challenges he faced during his time at Brighton.

It was during the coronavirus lockdown that Potter’s mum died and his dad passed away just six months later, all while cutting his teeth as a Premier League boss at Brighton.

“Before I went to Brighton I had no experience as a Premier League manager so I learnt that I could do that,” he replied when asked for the biggest lesson he took from his three years at the Amex Stadium.

“Sometimes you have to suffer and you have to experience pain along the way and obviously the higher you are in the Premier League the more noise there is.

“You (the media) want to compare with the previous guy so there is always that going on. Which isn’t great for the mental health if you’re comparing I would say generally.

“My mum and dad passed away during that first period of time so then you’re going ‘OK I’ve got these feelings here that are powerful and raw’ but then you’re also trying to compete in the Premier League so then you’re trying to manage – ‘OK, am I getting angry or disappointed or frustrated or whatever the feelings are because of this or because of this?’

“So that was the first six months of life in the Premier League and I think the quote is ‘you’re fixing the plane while it’s up in the air.’ That’s a great quote.”