"There is a touch of disappointment as we could have more points than we have." said Chris Hughton.
"But I can't ask for more. If we'd know that after 10 games we would have been unbeaten and top of the division, we would have been incredibly delighted.
"We've drawn our last three games and points have slipped away; we should have won two of them.
"But being top is a reflection of how the players have performed. Overall, the levels of performance has been good but we've a lot of really good teams to play and the challenges will be neverending."
Hughton was delighted with the way his side responded to going behind for the first time in a league game this season, and felt finishing was the only thing that let them down.
He added:"To respond the way we did showed volumes for the group of players we have. We had a lot of chances, got into good areas, but you've got to finish it off."
Cardiff boss Russell Slade hailed Brighton as "the best side" his men have faced so far and believes they merit being league leaders.
He said:" Brighton are a very good and very strong side and they deserve to be top.
"Last season I'm not sure if we would have eked out a result. We were not near our best and Brighton were very fluent, but we still hung in there so in a sense that is encouraging."
Slade felt the Bluebirds invited pressure after the early boost of Mason's goal, and said:" We got off to a good start but went into our shell and invited Brighton on.
"You would expect Brighton to have the lion's share of possession and they had 19 shots to six. We stood off and didn't push them high enough."
Slade admits he will have a difficult decision to make between goalkeepers David Marshall and Simon Moore following the international break.
Moore has stood in ably in the last two games with Marshall suspended, and Slade said:" David is going to be available but I've a tough choice to make.
"Simon is a really good player and I've had a big reaction from him. He is making it more difficult and he is a goalkeeper that will keep improving."
