Dale Stephens (Brighton)
Dale Stephens arrived on the South Coast for Championship surprise side Brighton from fellow Championship side Charlton at the end of January 2014, the ex-Southampton midfielder going on to establish himself as a solid fixture in the Seagulls line-up this term.
So far this Championship season, with 41 games under his belt, Stephens has been a vital cog in what you can consider the surprise team of the Championship what with the Seagulls struggling to avoid relegation last season and now challenging for promotion. He has 45.7 accurate passes per 90 at an overall accuracy of 84.5%. Of these accurate passes, 92.6% (42.3) of them are classed as ‘short passes’ (a pass of 25-yards or less). He has also produced a total of 48 key passes (passes which end as a shooting oppportunity for a teammate) out of his 2,187 passing attempts – meaning that 2.2% of his passes end as shooting opportunities for fellow Brighton players.
This season Stephens has added six goals to the Brigthon cause as well as five assists as the south coast side fnd themselves in second place and only a point behind Championship leaders Middlesbrough.
