Conor Gallagher believes Brighton "wanted it more" than Chelsea in the Blues' 4-1 defeat on Saturday afternoon.
Chelsea were poor at the Amex Stadium, where they went 3-0 down to the Seagulls in the first half. Leandro Trossard opened the scoring on five minutes before Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Trevoh Chalobah both scored own goals.
Kai Havertz replied for the visitors early in the second half, but Pascal Gross scored late on for Brighton to restore their three-goal advantage. Gallagher, who played 79 minutes before being replaced by Hakim Ziyech, has now questioned the mentality of the Chelsea squad.
READ MORE: Graham Potter slammed for over-rotation with 'bad' signing for Chelsea playing too much
"It's a tough one to take," Gallagher said to club media after the full-time whistle. "At the end of the day, we were not good enough individually or as a team. It seemed like they wanted it a bit more than us.
"We have to look at ourselves. We're to blame and we are gutted, very disappointed in ourselves as a team as we know we’re so much more professional than that.
"Credit to Brighton, they were very good. They're a top team, their fans were up for it."
Gallagher had a huge chance for Chelsea in the first half but Robert Sanchez saved well to deny the midfielder his second league goal of the season. "We were always in the game, even at half time when we were three down," he added.
"It shows we did have chances and I should have scored in the first half which could have changed the game. It didn't go that way.
"We had chances, but we need to defend better as a team. We shouldn't be conceding that many goals so we're very disappointed.
"We're at fault. We need to look at the mistakes, learn from them, dust ourselves off and go again."
READ NEXT:
Four things learned as Graham Potter falls to first Chelsea defeat versus Brighton
Kevin De Bruyne warning impacts Chelsea as Graham Potter truth becomes clear against Brighton
Chelsea player ratings as Kai Havertz nets and Sterling struggles and Blues hammered by Brighton
Thomas Tuchel breaks silence on abrupt Chelsea exit as Todd Boehly given brutally honest verdict
What Brighton fans said to Graham Potter at the Amex Stadium as Chelsea boss 'welcomed' back
