As his unbeaten Brighton & Hove Albion side fly high in the Championship this season, manager Chris Hughton has plenty to smile about.

But the ex-Republic of Ireland defender also has a wide grin when it comes to his former national team's exploits as we celebrate qualification to Euro 2016.

And he was certainly impressed by the way Martin O'Neill's side went about things against Bosnia in the playoffs.

"The way that the team went about both legs was testament to very good organisation and of course, once we had the opportunity to bring them back home, it was always going to be tough. But they went about it really well and the team deserve to be there," he told Ger on Off The Ball.

Dundalk's prolific goalscoring midfielder Richie Towell has been linked with a move to his Brighton side and Hughton admitted that the player is on their radar.

"Richie is a player that we're certainly aware of and I would be because of where he's played. He's had a wonderful season. He's one that yes of course, we are aware of but we're conscious that lots of other clubs are also aware of him. He's had a good season and I'm delighted for him because it's a good league that he's done it in. But he is a player that, yes, we are aware of," said Hughton, who also discussed the level of interest Championship clubs would generally have in League of Ireland players. 

Hughton also chatted about his Brighton team's excellent start to the season and gave an insight into what he is learning as a manager.