March near return but still no Pedro: Brighton v Spurs team news
Concerns over how long Joao Pedro will be out injured and the possibility of Solly March returning to the matchday squad this weekend make for mixed team news ahead of Brighton against Spurs.
Fabian Hurzeler appeared to inadvertently drop the bombshell that Pedro could be side lined for more than six weeks when comparing the severity of the Brazilian forward’s injury to the problem currently afflicting Jan Paul van Hecke.
Van Hecke told Dutch media on Monday he had a significant groin tear which he was told needed a six week recovery period.
Hurzeler was asked about Van Hecke, saying: “I think it is not that bad as for example the issue with Joao. Let’s see and go week for week.”
If Pedro has a worse injury that Van Hecke who may not be back until the start of November, just how long are Brighton going to be without Pedro for?
Simon Adingra is a doubt to face Spurs whilst Hurzeler also gave an update on Matt O’Riley: “He is very positive and he’s making small steps forward and I think that’s very important when you have a bad injury.”
“He’s sticking to the plan after his surgery. He’s doing his rehab and we’re looking forward to seeing him back on the pitch.”
Losing two key players like Pedro and Van Hecke – and to a lesser extent Adingra – at the same time is a huge blow to Hurzeler. But the rest of the Brighton team news ahead of facing Spurs was far more upbeat.
Several others are nearing returns from injury, including March. Hurzeler said: “The positive things are Brajan Gruda and Solly March trained really well this week, so they might be an option as is James Milner. Joel Veltman is back in the squad.”
March has not played since an ACL injury picked up away at Manchester City almost 12 months ago. His return to the first team squad would come as something of a shock, seeing as he has played no competitive football at all.
Jakub Moder was eased back into action with several outings for Brighton Under 21s after his own ACL injury. Most assumed March would follow a similar path – but perhaps not if Hurzeler is considering him for a place on the bench against Tottenham.
Gruda is still awaiting his Albion debut following his £25 million summer move from Mainz. Brighton are yet to win a Premier League game without Milner this season.
The return of Veltman meanwhile will add Premier League experience to the defence. Whether that can help make the high line more effective than it has been in the past three games remains to be seen.
On the subject of the high line, Hurzeler discussed what went wrong at Stamford Bridge: “I think that you’re honest to yourself, that you reflect what was good and what was not good in this game.”
“If you lose there are more negative points. I was responsible for the match plan and the match plan was not good enough. I also have to learn from it and now we try to show a reaction.”
The proof of that pudding will be in the eating come Sunday afternoon.
