The Seagulls dominated possession in the Czech Republic but struggled to turn their control into clear chances, while the hosts finished strongly and threatened to snatch a win. The draw ended Brighton’s six-match winning run.
Hürzeler made eight changes from Sunday’s 5-0 victory over Crystal Palace, with Bart Verbruggen, Olivier Boscagli and Pascal Groß the only players to keep their places. Brighton had plenty of the ball and delivered crosses into the box, but their final action repeatedly let them down.
“We didn't play at our highest level. I think Jablonec defended well, but overall of course it's not the result we wanted,” Hürzeler said.
“If you play 0-0 then you didn't create enough, so that's definitely something where we have to get better. We have to understand what it means to play in this cup. We have to understand that we have to be brilliant at the basics, and we weren't good at the basics. A little bit of precision in the last action was missing.”
Brighton produced 26 attempts but could not find a breakthrough. Georginio Rutter and Ibrahim Osman missed openings, while Malick Yalcouyé had a goal ruled out for offside.
Jablonec grew more dangerous as the match wore on. Antonín Rusek headed narrowly wide in the first half, then came close again after a Brighton defensive error. Verbruggen was required to make an excellent fingertip save to keep out Jirí Sláma’s curling effort, and the home side created further danger on the counter-attack.
Hürzeler said Brighton had been surprised by Jablonec’s deeper defensive shape, but insisted the hosts deserved credit for their performance.
“I said before they are a good team. Of course, they changed their formation. I think the games before they didn't play with a back five. We didn't expect that they would go this deep against us. But we have to give credit to them. They played a good game and were a difficult opponent.”
Hürzeler said his team would learn from the draw and improve. There were no goalscorers, with both sides leaving the Stadion Střelnice with a point.