Brighton vs Nottingham Forest: Fabian Hurzeler makes key winger decision; star man on the bench; midfielder missing from squad
Joao Pedro is back in the squad, but is only fit enough for the bench, as Brighton face Nottingham Forest.
Fabian Hurzeler’s team is looking to get back to winning ways in the Premier League, at the Amex Stadium this afternoon (2pm KO).
Following the goalless draw against Ipswich, the Seagulls sit sixth in the table from their first four matches.
Hurzeler’s unbeaten team have also advanced to the fourth round of the Carabao Cup thanks to wins over Crawley Town and Wolves.
Forest have also started the season well and, like Brighton, they have eight points with two draws and two wins. They most recently secured a shock win against Liverpool at Anfield.
Brighton striker Joao Pedro, who has been missing with a slight knock since the international break, is on the bench.
Hurzeler has made two changes to the team which was held by Ipswich – with Pervis Estupinan and Simon Adingra making their first league starts of the season.
Yankuba Minteh has dropped to the bench and Yasin Ayari is missing from the matchday squad. Jack Hinshelwood is likely to be deployed in midfield.
Hurzeler was asked about Pedro in his pre-match press conference.
He said: “It will be easy as a coach to say we missed him, and if Joao Pedro was playing against Ipswich we would have won, but in my philosophy it's important to create chances. On top of that, every player wants to score and they don't want to miss on purpose."
The German said he would ‘see how it goes’ after Pedro’s training session on Friday.
A win for either side this afternoon would send them fourth in table
Previewing the match, the Albion boss added: “My solution is that we need to create some chances, attack the box with more players and change our attitude. We missed a step in not creating more chances against Ipswich and we're trying to work on that.
"We have to stop their [Nottingham Forest’s] transition moments and we have to stop their counter-pressing. It will be a challenge for us but we did it very well against Ipswich."
Brighton XI: Verbruggen, Estupinan, Dunk, Van Hecke, Veltman, Hinshelwood, Adingra, Baleba, Rutter, Mitoma, Welbeck.
Substitutes: Steele, Igor Julio, Adam Webster, Joao Pedro, Julio Enciso, Yankuba Minteh, Ferdi Kadioglu, Mats Wieffer, Evan Ferguson