'It's a mix' - Fabian Hurzeler issues Evan Ferguson and Joao Pedro update ahead of Wolves - video Dailymotion

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Brighton and Hove Albion head coach Fabian Hurzler addresses the media ahead of Brighton's Carabao Cup third round clash against Wolves

Transcript

00:00Fabian, nice to meet you. Can we just ask you for this game, no Ruta obviously, he can't

00:05play. Jao Pedro, is he fit and will you play him in this match?

00:11We have to see the training today, if he's fully fit. Like I said, after the game against

00:17Ipswich we don't want to take any risk with him. Let's see the training today and then

00:24we will decide if it makes sense to let him play or not.

00:28You made 11 changes in the last round against Crawley, would you dare play 11 new players

00:35for a game against a Premier League team?

00:39On the one side I trust all my players who are in the squad, so I'm completely convinced

00:44that everyone who will be on the pitch tomorrow can compete with a Premier League club like

00:50Wolverhampton and against every Premier League club. So I feel like my trust to all my players

00:57is very high.

00:59On the other side, of course we have to go in discussions who we give a break. They had

01:08all international matches, they had long travels, so of course there will be some rotations.

01:17But I think there will be also players who played against Ipswich who will play tomorrow.

01:21So it will be a mix. But I'm sure that the players on the pitch, the squad will be strong

01:27enough that we can compete with Wolverhampton.

01:31Evan Ferguson played a few minutes against Ipswich, is this a great chance for him to

01:35start and show you what he can do?

01:39So he doesn't have to show me what he can do because I know what his potential is. I

01:45saw a lot of games from him already in the past when he played for Brighton. He's a great

01:51finisher in the box. He has the whole package for a striker. So for me it's important that

01:58he integrates in our style of play, that he follows our principle. That's the most important

02:03for me and he doesn't have to prove anything to me. He should do his work on the pitch,

02:09in possession, out of possession. He should help the team and then he will have a great

02:13impact on our game for sure.

02:15I don't think he's started a match for Brighton since March. He must be dying to start for

02:20you isn't he?

02:21I think he is, yes.

02:24Just tell us about Vifa, is he fit and also Gruda, are they possible players for this

02:29game?

02:30So Vifa will be an option. With Gruda he's still in rehab training, there we have to

02:39go day by day. But he's doing a great improvement with his issue and I'm really looking forward

02:47that he's back in training soon.

02:49Verbruggen has been your goalkeeper for the last three games, which seems to imply that

02:54he is your number one now. So does that mean that Jason Steele will possibly play in this

02:58game?

02:59That's a possibility, yes.

03:02How important is the Carabao Cup to you Fabian?

03:06For me in Germany you only have the one DFB Cup and for me a cup competition is always

03:16a competition where you can win a title. In the end I want to win titles, the club wants

03:23to win titles, the players want to win titles and therefore it's a chance for us. And of

03:28course I know that we have three days later an important Premier League game but for me

03:35I take this game very seriously and I also will transport this message to my team. The

03:40Carabao Cup is a chance to win a title and therefore we take it very seriously. We try

03:47to prepare this match like a Premier League game and hopefully we have a chance to win

03:52this game.

03:53And you know too that Forest, who you play on Sunday, aren't playing in the week so they

03:57have the week off. Does that come into your thinking as well?

04:01Of course there are some thoughts in my mind but for me, in my opinion, the players should

04:07have the power and the basic to play three games in a week. So in the end I think all

04:18the teams who play in the Champions League or who play in the Euroleague, they have to

04:23play this rhythm and therefore I think that my players should also be ready to play three

04:30games in a week. But of course there are some thoughts about this game against Nottingham

04:35for sure.

04:36There are only three competitions to enter, do you have those discussions amongst the

04:45backroom staff about how important this could be, particularly with the players and the

04:50incentive that there is for them?

04:55Like I said, for me, cup games or cup competitions, we should take them seriously because it's

05:01a chance to win titles and there's no waste of time in games like this. We should use

05:08this game, we should use every second to improve, to adapt our style of play, to get fitter

05:15also in case of how much we run, how much high speed metres we do and therefore there's

05:22no option to waste this game. No matter if it's a friendly game or a cup game or a Premier

05:27League game, I want to use every second with this team and also this should be the attitude

05:31of the individual players. Therefore I'm really looking forward to this competition because

05:37again it's a repetition but for me it's a chance to win a cup.

05:41I know there's only one cup competition in Germany but do you have memories when you

05:46were growing up, was that something that you thought about, lifting trophies, creating

05:50memories?

05:51Yes, so I lifted one trophy, although it's only like the second league in Germany promotion

05:59but having your trophy in the hand and lifting it in the air and the people, they cheer to

06:08you, they celebrate with you. I think these are memories you will never forget and you

06:13can't pay money to get these memories, you can only create them by your own and that's

06:19something that stays in your mind your whole life and therefore it's always my vision and

06:26my ambition to win titles. I know that the players feel the same and if you want to win

06:34titles of course you need a little bit of luck but you need to work hard and you can't

06:38waste any second and that's what I expect from my players tomorrow.

06:42In terms of Wolves, I know they might make changes themselves as well but it's been a

06:47tough start to the season but what do you, I mean they have some exciting attacking players?

06:52Yes, they have great individual players with Kunja, Larssen in front is a great target

07:01player, they have out of the midfield good players who can carry the ball quite good

07:07for the midfielder. They have for me a good structure in possession and therefore will

07:13be a big challenge. It's a good Premier League club, I saw them a lot of times last season

07:19because I thought they made a really good impression, they have a good style of play

07:24and it will be a tough challenge for us.

07:27What about those players that may get an opportunity that haven't played much football yet this

07:31season, whether it's Igor or Lamptey who played in the last game, how much of an opportunity

07:37is this for them to impress you?

07:40For me it's not important that the players have the feeling they have to impress something

07:45to me, for me it's important that they prove their own, that they belong to the squad.

07:52I'm completely convinced of all of my players who are in my squad and I'm completely trusting

07:56and believing in them that they can help us on the pitch. Of course at the moment there

08:02are some players who didn't play so many minutes but on the other side we do a lot of substitutions

08:09during a game so we always try to give the players time to play because in the end we

08:15know the player only develops of course if he trains good but on the other side he needs

08:20to have game time, he needs to have this competition.

08:24We saw it against Crawley I think in the first round that it was tough for them to get in

08:30this rhythm and I think now they've had one game, for example Igor and Adam, and they're

08:37more in this feeling of having a competition and now there will be the next opportunity

08:42for some of them.

'It's a mix' - Fabian Hurzeler issues Evan Ferguson and Joao Pedro update ahead of Wolves

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