Hughton's side were beaten 1-0 at newly promoted Premier League rivals Hull City on Saturday, leaving them with one point to show from their opening two games.
Robbie Brady's first-half penalty was enough to seal the points for Hull, who hung on for victory despite seeing Yannick Sagbo sent off just five minutes after taking the lead.
And Hughton expressed disappointment at how his side failed to break down their opponents thereafter.
"I thought we started quite brightly and then for some reason we started to make life difficult for ourselves," he said.
"We gave away possession far too easily at times against a team that were at home, that were under pressure and made it difficult.
"We certainly had enough possession and if I look at the areas that we got into and the opportunities that we had, we certainly had more than what Hull did.
"But you would expect that. They were down to 10 men for a period of time."
Hughton admitted his side cannot afford to be below their best if they want to repeat the comfortable survival from their previous two seasons.
"This league is too unforgiving," he said.
"There's too much quality and everybody's fighting. You have a Hull side down to 10 men that are fighting for their lives, you have to expect that in every game. Every game."
"If we come away from here and it's a 0-0 scoreline then you come away from here, certainly happier.
"You might not be happier with the performance and what you've given but at least you have got something out of the game. We certainly didn't deserve to get nothing out of the game."
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