Roberto De Zerbi admitted that Brighton’s lack of experience cost them dearly as their European debut ended in a surprise 3-2 defeat at home to AEK Athens. A late goal from the substitute Ezequiel Ponce sealed victory for the Greek champions in the Europa League group stages after João Pedro equalised twice from the penalty spot for the hosts, who were missing the defensive talisman Lewis Dunk through injury. But with a trip to face Marseille up next before Brighton face a double header against the four-time European champions Ajax, De Zerbi acknowledged they must adapt quickly to their new surroundings. “We can learn and we have to learn,” said the Brighton manager. “We can improve but it’s difficult to accept this defeat. We showed not the right experience. Maybe not the same experience of AEK but for the rest we played with personality and the right attitude and controlled the game, dominated the game and we are sad for the result. Sad because we couldn’t make our fans happy, our club happy. But we can learn if we want to make another upgrade we have to know before the game the situation where we can concede goals.” Dunk and the teenage forward Evan Ferguson, who was left out of the match-day squad after falling ill, are both expected to return for Sunday’s Premier League visit of Bournemouth. But after making seven changes from the side that defeated Manchester United 3-1 at Old Trafford, De Zerbi refused to criticise his players. “I can’t be happy when we win at Old Trafford and sad today if performances are both good,” he added. The AEK Athens manager, Matías Almeyda, admitted he was pleased that his side had proved the doubters wrong after their surprise win. “I believe a lot in the work we do on a daily basis,” said the former Argentina midfielder. “The opposition on a number of occasions forced us to play another kind of game. But it is the fighting spirit of the team and we earned some respect. “There were two journalists here yesterday – when I mentioned we were here to win, one of them laughed. He’s not here today. We don’t want to be underestimated by anyone. We knew the greatness of this team. They play a fantastic kind of football but we stood tall.”