Inside scoop: Brighton vs Chelsea team news and Hurzeler comments on rivalry

SussexWorld

Derren Howard and Henry Bryant discuss the latest pre-match press conference from Fabian Hurzeler as the Albion face Chelsea at home for the second time in quick succession.

Transcript

00:00Yes guys, how's it going? I'm Henry Bryant and that's Darren Howard and we've just been to the

00:04pre-match press conferences. The Albion are trying to make it two from two against Chelsea,

00:10this time in the Premier League, and if they win this one they can get up to eighth position.

00:15There was an injury update from the press conference, so Lewis Dunk, as we thought,

00:19he struggled in the first half in the FA Cup against Chelsea as well last week at the Amex.

00:25He went off with a rib injury, it was confirmed, and I think the game's going to come a bit too

00:29soon for Lewis Dunk, so he's still struggling. They're going to see if he can train today,

00:35but it's not looking likely. I think Adam Webster will come in for Lewis Dunk as well.

00:41Pervis Estupinjan, he's still struggling with his muscular injury, I think he's going to be out.

00:45Solly March is also going to be ruled out as well. He's actually back in training,

00:49so it's more encouraging news, but again I think it's just going to be a bit too soon for Solly

00:54March. On the positive side, Mats Whiffer, he could be an option as well. He hasn't played

01:00since he scored against West Ham, when he had his best game for Brighton since joining.

01:05He's been out since, but he's back in training and could be an option as well.

01:10Definitely, that's some hopeful news there. Still quite a few injuries though on the front for

01:15Brighton, so it'll be an interesting one in that respect. Talking about an interesting sort of

01:20atmosphere, we've seen it already with the FA Cup clash with Chelsea and Fabian Hasler thinks

01:26that this will be another tense atmosphere and he's aware of this rivalry. What was he saying

01:31about that sort of question? It came up in the press conference and yeah, Hasler likes it. He

01:40likes the tense atmosphere between the two teams. He thinks if there's a lively atmosphere amongst

01:47the fans, it can help inspire the team, which it did last week. So he's a big fan of it,

01:54but there was a word of caution because some of the fans were targeting

01:59Koukourea and Robert Sanchez, which was all good fun, the former players that now play for Chelsea.

02:06But he did say that it could also work against them, where it can sort of raise their game a

02:12bit and inspire the likes of Koukourea and Sanchez to perform at perhaps a higher level.

02:18So there was that side of it as well, but on the whole, he likes the rivalry and I think

02:24it's going to be another good one on Valentine's night, on Friday night, this Friday.

02:29Yeah, there's certainly no love in the air between those two sides, there really isn't.

02:33And in terms of what we were saying at the start, Brighton can get into eighth position with this

02:38win. How important is that to get back amongst it in what could be the European positions for

02:44this season? Yeah, I think that's got to be Brighton's target. They were going along quite

02:48nicely and then the injuries have really had an impact on them. I know Zela hasn't used that as

02:54an excuse, but when you look at the players that they've had missing for most of the season,

03:01it's been significant. And I think that loss at Nottingham Forest, that was a bit of a reset.

03:08I think in a way it was painful at the time, but Egan spoke about that today, of how it has

03:13actually, in a funny way, helped sort of galvanise the players and really focus and work on what

03:19they need to do. And I think maybe you could look back at the end of the season and say that could

03:23be a turning point and give them another push towards achieving their European aims.

03:29And three points against Chelsea would certainly help that. For sure. And it's all to play for.

03:35And for the latest news covering the Albion and more, please check sussexworld.co.uk

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