'No' – Brighton star will miss FA Cup clash at Newcastle United after Fabian Hurzeler update

Brighton skipper Lewis Dunk has been ruled out the FA Cup clash at Newcastle United this Sunday.

Dunk, 33, has been struggling with a rib injury sustained during the first half of their fourth round FA Cup win against Chelsea. The captain has missed the last three top flight wins against Chelsea, Southampton and Bournemouth and this Sunday will also arrive too soon. Earlier this season, Dunk also missed five league matches and the third round FA Cup win at Norwich due to calf issues.

"So far, there is no other change. Hopefully, it stays like this,” said head coach Fabian Hurzeler when asked for an injury update. “Of course we are looking forward to our skipper [Dunk] being back, but I think that the game on Sunday will be a little bit too early."

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Experienced full back Joel Veltman – who missed the midweek win against Bournemouth – is also a doubt as he tries to shake off a foot injury. James Milner (hamstring), Igor Julio (hamstring) Jason Steele (shoulder) and Ferdi Kadioglu (toe) remain the long term absentees.

Hurzeler will also assess the likes of Tariq Lamptey and Adam Webster ahead of the trip to the North East. Both have clocked up plenty of minutes in a short space of time recently and both have suffered with numerous injuries in the past.

"I have to find the balance of the squad who will start,” added the head coach. “We have some players who came back after an injury. We have some players who didn't play so much in the Premier League. We have players like Tariq [Lamptey] and Adam [Webster], who played a lot in the past [weeks]. Because also we had a lot of injuries and they had to go for two lots of 90 minutes. We will see who will play on Sunday.

"But the most important thing is that we get the freshest team on the pitch, the most ready team on the pitch and therefore we have to make the right choice."

Brighton have bounced back from their 7-0 humiliation at Nottingham Forest by winning four consecutive games.

Tuesday’s home victory against Bournemouth lifted them to eighth in the Premier League, just three points off a potential Champions League spot.

Hurzeler said: “For sure when you win four games in a row there’s a lot of positivity in the building and a great atmosphere.

“In general I always try to say that we want to stay stable and particular in our behaviour and work ethic, because you can’t get too euphoric when you have a great run or too depressed when you don’t get the results you need.

“At the moment we have the results that we want, and it’s important to understand now why the results came and why we are in this situation.

“We have to continue these things so don’t do less, invest even more to keep the momentum.

“This will be our job now and then I’m sure we can continue this run.”

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