Pedro injury blow for trip to the Bridge: Chelsea v Brighton team news
The team news ahead of Brighton visiting Chelsea is in and it does not make good reading for Albion fans with Joao Pedro ruled out through injury.
More concerning is Fabian Hurzeler being unable to put a timeframe on when the Brazilian forward will return.
Last time there was such ambiguity over Pedro was last February. What started out as a potentially small problem ended up with Pedro being absent for eight weeks.
Brighton’s form was already starting to wane with Pedro in the side. But when he and Kaoru Mitoma both entered the treatment room with respective long-term problems, the campaign fell apart in alarming fashion.
Delivering the team news ahead of Chelsea v Brighton, Hurzeler said Pedro picked up his latest injury via the tackle which saw Morgan Gibbs-White shown a second yellow card in the final 10 minutes of Sunday’s 2-2 draw with Nottingham Forest.
Pedro spent the short time remaining moving pretty gingerly and was reported to have left the Amex on crutches.
“It was a hard tackle and Joao Pedro had some problems after the game,” Hurzeler said. “He still has some problems. We have to go week to week with him, but I don’t think he will be an option for the weekend. I am not sure how long he will be out.”
“It’s a little bit of an issue with his ankle. When you see this tackle, his ankle was fixed and it twisted a little bit. That is the thing that caused the issue and the most pain, the twisting of the ankle.”
“Joao Pedro is a fast healer. We had a small issue with him in pre-season and we expected him to be out longer, but he came back really quickly. I hope that will be the same case now.”
Referee Rob Jones initially signalled his belief Gibbs-White had won the ball. The official then had a complete change of heart and sent Gibbs-White for an early bath.
This sparked a total meltdown from Gibbs-White and Forest boss Nuno, who was also red carded. As was Hurzeler, although nobody was entirely sure why.
After delivering the Joao Pedro injury news, the youngest permanent head coach in Premier League history confirmed his crime was stepping onto the pitch.
Hurzeler said that if this now a red card offence, many managers will be getting sent off every week. I think we all know who Hurzeler was referring to there.
Mikel Arteta dances around on the touchline like he is doing a foxtrot with Dianne Buswell and is never punished for his antics.
This two-tier policing of what head coaches do in their technical areas makes a mockery of Arsenal fans claiming there is some sort of conspiracy to stop them winning the Premier League.
Hurzeler explained his actions in the context of wanting to protect Pedro. “If I don’t show emotion there, me as a player I would say the coach isn’t interested.”
Howard Webb spoke to Hurzeler afterwards. “He listened to me and he gave me a clear explanation of the situation. How the referee saw the scene, how the fourth official saw the scene,” Hurzeler said.
“I also have to learn how fast you can get a red card in this league,” he added. The good news is Hurzeler’s rational response has helped him avoid a touchline ban. He will be in the dugout at Stamford Bridge.
In other Chelsea v Brighton team news, Yasin Ayari is available after illness and £25 million signing from Mainz Brajan Gruda could be named in the matchday squad for the first time.
