Brighton chief exec Paul Barber has explained the appointment of Roberto de Zerbi as new manager.

The Italian takes charge today for their clash with Liverpool.

Barber said: "The work Roberto de Zerbi did with Sassuolo and Shakhtar was very good. It was the sort of football that Graham Potter had been working with us on, it was attacking, possession-based football, encouraging players to be brave and express themselves on the field without getting hung up on individual errors form time to time.

"That was very much Graham's way. Roberto has a similar style. He is demanding but he is also a good human being who gets to know the players both on a personal and a profession level. We felt that both from a footballing and cultural point of view he would be an excellent replacement for Graham if we were to ever lose him.

"Of course we weren't expecting to lose Graham six games into the season but these things happen, we have a succession plan in that eventuality. Roberto was top of our list and we're delighted to get him."

He also said: "We do a lot of checks on the players and staff coming in, not just their playing and coaching backgrounds but who they are as people, what they do in their spare time, their family situations, what they are like as human beings.

"The background checks we did on Roberto with the things that went on in Ukraine, a very sad situation, we knew that Roberto had conducted himself at the highest level. The people we spoke to in Ukraine had nothing but very good things to say about him so we knew that we were getting a good person and obviously work starts for him today on the pitch."