Brighton injuries – Fabian Hurzeler issues update on two injury concerns as Bournemouth await
Brighton’s attention quickly turns to Bournemouth following Saturday’s 4-0 win at Southampton as head coach Fabian Hurzeler hopes for some positive injury news ahead of Tuesday’s clash at the Amex Stadium.
Albion secured three consecutive victories as they cruised at lowly Southampton to climb to ninth in the Premier League and keep their European ambitions on track.
Goals from Joao Pedro, Georginio Rutter, Kaoru Mitoma and Jack Hinshelwood condemn the Saints to a 21st defeat of the season.
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There was however concern ahead of the match as key duo Danny Welbeck and Joel Veltman missed the trip and will hope to be back in time to face the Cherries, who were surprisingly beaten 1-0 by Wolves at the weekend.
Sussex World understands Welbeck – who has six goals and five assists so far this term – sustained an injury in training and was given time to rest with Tuesday in mind.
“I can’t give you any precise message [on Werlbeck or Veltman],” said Hurzeler after the Southampton win. “Because we really have to go day by day, I didn’t talk to them today, they received treatment, so hopefully they will be an option for Tuesday.
“But I’m not sure if everyone can be an option, so we have to be honest, we have to really go day by day, and let’s see how they are tomorrow, let’s see how they are on Monday, and then we can decide.”
Skipper Lewis Dunk missed the match at St Mary’s as he continues his recovery from a rib injury. He will be assessed between now and Tuesday.
“It is an issue where I can’t say it will take two weeks or three weeks,” Hurzeler said before the Southampton victory. “Everyone knows Lewis, he is trying really hard to get back on the training pitch as quickly as possible. But, at the moment, he has a lot of pain and we really have to go day by day. It is an area near the ribs, so I think everyone who had something with the ribs knows it can be very painful.”
There was however good news for Ecuadorian left-back Pervis Estupinan who played the final 20 minutes at Southampton, having missed the last three matches with a muscular issue.
The comfortable victory against a poor Southampton team boosts Albion’s chances of qualifying for Europe once again.
“For us it’s very important to stay grounded,” warned Hurzeler. “To understand now why we have this momentum, to understand why we are able to win this game, and it only comes by hard work, by hard work every day on the training pitch,
“By getting a consistency in the daily behaviour, by demanding the most from myself, and also by demanding from my team-mates, and then we really go game by game, and then we see what happens.”
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