Brighton 0-0 Forest: Gruda cameo enough to top ratings

Positives from the Albion exiting the FA Cup on penalties were few and far between. But the performance of Brajan Gruda after coming off the bench was one as the young German did enough in 15 minutes plus extra time to top the Brighton 0-0 Forest ratings.

Gruda has struggled to make much impact since his £25 million summer move from Mainz. But maybe that is because Fabian Hurzeler has been using him incorrectly?

Deployed largely as a winger in his Brighton career so far, Gruda took over in the number 10 position after Georginio Rutter was forced off injured. And the German Under 21 international looked much more effective in a central role.

Should Rutter now be out long term as appears likely, the obvious move would be to play Joao Pedro behind Danny Welbeck. Gruda though deserves to be in the conversation to start at number 10 based on what we saw against a good Tricky Trees defence.

Here are your Brighton 0-0 Forest ratings.

Bart Verbruggen – 6.56

Two decent saves to ensure he was not beaten in the 120 minutes. Obviously a big improvement on the last time the Albion faced Forest and he shipped seven. No saves in the shootout though, which Ajax manager Aad de Mos probably enjoyed having criticised Verbruggen for his penalty technique after the Netherlands lost their Nations League quarter final against Spain during the international break.

Jack Hinshelwood – 6.56

Did a good job defensively against a Tricky Trees side who are particularly dangerous down the flanks. Always harsh on a player to miss a penalty but it seemed doubly so given he was taking one ahead of more experienced teammates.

Jan Paul van Hecke – 7.00

Rounded off an excellent March which has seen him nominated for Premier League Player of the Month with another rock solid display.

Adam Webster – 6.78

Brighton have not lost a game since Webster came back into the team in February, making the hamstring injury he limped off with a particular blow.

Pervis Estupinan – 7.00

All action display made all the more impressive compared to how the other Albion players who had long haul flights back from international duty performed. Only question mark being why he didn’t take a penalty?

Carlos Baleba – 6.56

Not at his domineering best although he did come close to scoring when unleashing a rocket from distance in the first half.

Yasin Ayari – 5.67

Struggled to make much impact. Brighton looked better once Ayari was replaced by Diego Gomez ahead of the final 10 minutes of normal time.

Yankubu Minteh – 6.11

Put in a shift up and down the right flank. As one Brighton fan wrote on Twitter, seriously impressive given he had not eaten anything all day because of Ramadan.

Georginio Rutter – 6.11

Was not having his best evening before doing something to his ankle. Watched penalties wearing a protective boot and was also photographed in the back of an ambulance at one point. Hurzeler said afterwards: “He might have to go to a scan, so I can’t say anything now.” Which in Brighton medical talk means we may not see him until October 2027.

Kaoru Mitoma – 5.11

Picked up a knock on international duty and although he was passed fit to play, he looked like someone who was struggling slightly. VAR saved him from conceding a penalty after an unusually clumsy tangle with Elliott Anderson.

Danny Welbeck – 5.11

No real sight of goal and his replacement with Pedro seemed inevitable as he faded from proceedings.

Simon Adingra – 6.22

A rare instance where Adingra offered more than Mitoma down the left. That included whipping over the cross which led to Gomez having the best Brighton chance of the game, a powerful header brilliantly kept out by Matz Sels.

Joao Pedro – 6.22

Menacing when he came on. Bundled the ball into the back of the net right at the death, only for it to be disallowed for offside against Estupinan.

BRAJAN GRUDA – 7.19

His best performance so far in an Albion shirt. Worth more opportunities in the 10 role based on a performance good enough to top the Brighton 0-0 Forest player ratings even though he was only on the pitch for 45 minutes out of 120.

Diego Gomez – 6.33

Would have been the match winner had Selz not saved that header. Then went onto miss a penalty in the shootout. The highs and lows of football encapsulated in half hour.

Lewis Dunk – 6.22

The Albion captain rightly had to settle for a place on the bench thanks to the form of Van Hecke and Webster. Thrown on when Webster was withdrawn and can probably expect a run of games now. Stood up and took a penalty and led by example in the shootout.

The WAB Player Ratings are formulated using marks out of 10 given by Brighton fans via social media. To have your scores included, follow We Are Brighton on Twitter or We Are Brighton on Bluesky and look out for the player rating thread after each game.