Fabian Hurzeler take a bow – Brighton fans will love manager’s comments ahead of Crystal Palace

Head coach Fabian Hurzeler insists “he can feel the passion” as Brighton bid to put their European push back on track away to bitter rivals Crystal Palace.

Albion’s five-match unbeaten run in the Premier League was emphatically ended by a damaging 3-0 midweek defeat at home to fellow continental hopefuls Aston Villa.

Yet, with eight games to go, the eighth-placed Seagulls sit only five points behind fourth spot ahead of Saturday’s trip to Selhurst Park.

Palace inflicted the first home defeat of Hurzeler’s reign by romping to a 3-1 success at the Amex Stadium in mid December.

The 32-year-old German is fully aware of the importance of the fixture to Brighton supporters and admits his side have a duty to make amends.

“I can feel it (the passion) and I think it’s also our responsibility to give them something back,” he said.

“In the first derby, we weren’t on our highest level, we didn’t give the fans what they deserve and tomorrow it’s an opportunity for us and also our responsibility to make it better than the last time.

“There’s already a big motivation because it’s the final third of the season, it’s about achieving something, it’s about winning something, and every game will be important, and therefore the motivation is very high.

“We will go all in, we will try to win this game for our fans.”

Hurzeler, whose side suffered the disappointment of an FA Cup quarter-final penalty shoot-out exit to Nottingham Forest last weekend, has urged his players to prepare for a succession of finals during the run-in.

“The whole season we have to deal with setbacks and it’s always about how you come back,” he said.

“It is always the question, if the glass is half full or half empty, and I always see it as a half-full glass and that’s the main message.

“It’s to see all the upcoming games like a final, and like this we have to prepare, and like this we will go into the games.

“Everything in the past was in the past and now it’s really about winning something and we have to be on our highest level.

“We need two things. We need this togetherness and we need this positive energy.

“We will go all in with the staff, with all the players and then we see what we get.”

Albion captain Lewis Dunk is fit to feature in south London after being substituted in the 72nd minute against Villa on his first start in almost two months.

Joel Veltman, Adam Webster, Tariq Lamptey, Igor Julio, Ferdi Kadioglu, James Milner and Georginio Rutter remain sidelined.