Diego Gomez must wait for debut: Brighton v Arsenal team news
Fabian Hurzeler has confirmed that Diego Gomez will have to wait for his Brighton debut when revealing the team news ahead of Arsenal visiting the Amex.
The £12 million signing from Inter Miami arrived in England before Christmas. Hurzeler though has said the visit of the Gunners is too soon to pitch Gomez into action.
It therefore appears likely the Paraguayan international will be eased in away at Norwich City in the third round of the FA Cup next weekend.
Hurzeler was unable to put a timeframe on when Danny Welbeck might return from injury, saying it could be one, two, three or four weeks.
The striker has played just 19 minutes since the start of December. Brighton have failed to win a game without Welbeck, so hopefully his comeback is nearer the start of that scale than the end.
Goodness knows where the Albion will find themselves in the Premier League standings if they must cope without Dat Guy for another month.
The only positive of such a lengthy absence being the rumours over a training ground argument between Hurzeler and Welbeck may develop to greater levels of ridiculousness.
Already they have gone from argument to bust up to fight. If Welbeck is not seen before the start of February, who will be the first person to say Hurzeler has locked Welbeck in a garage like Reiss and Bianca in EastEnders?
Anyway, we digress. Evan Ferguson also remains unavailable and again, Hurzeler did not offer any update on when he might return.
Any questions on the January transfer window were given short shrift, meaning there was no discussion either on whether Ferguson may head out on loan for the remainder of the season.
Ferdi Kadioglu will be out for a while, whatever that means. It extends the Albion’s rotten luck with injuries to summer signings.
Every single addition made during the £200 million summer spending spree has now spent a significant amount of time on the side lines with the exception of Georginio Rutter.
Brighton might have brought in a whole new medical team in the summer along with much self-congratulations and fanfare. They do not appear to have made much difference so far.
The team news ahead of Brighton against Arsenal is not all doom and gloom, however. Pervis Estupinan will hopefully be available after missing the 2-2 draw at Aston Villa with illness.
Adam Webster is also back in training. He has not been seen for almost three months now since getting injured inside the opening 10 minutes of October’s 3-2 win over Tottenham.
Victory against Spurs is one of only three games the Albion have won at the Amex so far this season. The other two came against Manchester United and Manchester City.
Brighton clearly perform better at home against the European Super League Elite Six than they do the likes of Ipswich Town, Wolves, Southampton and Crystal Palace. All of whom have left Sussex with at least a point for their efforts.
That should at least give Albion fans a little confidence that the Seagulls can get a result against the title chasing Gunners.
