Brighton boss Roberto de Zerbi says they must approach their Europa League opener with a clean slate.

Brighton open their maiden campaign against AEK Athens tomorrow night.

And De Zerbi explained his approach, stating: "The challenge of this year is to forget the game we play the day before and to focus only on the next game," said the Brighton boss.

"To keep the result and the good emotion but to forget other things. The game in Manchester is finished. We have to think only about the next game.

"We cannot forget where we started and who we were. We can't lose our DNA. If we think that we are better then we are, then we make a big mistake."

"If we want to become bigger than this competition, then we still have to compete at this level first."

On AEK, he added: "Their manager [Argentine Matías Almeyda] is a former Brescia player. I know him very well.

"We have studied AEK a lot. They are a good team, very aggressive with and without the ball. It will be a very tough game."