Hurzeler injury update percentages: Brighton v Palace team news
If things don’t work out for Fabian Hurzeler in this football management lark, perhaps he has a future as successor to Rachel Riley on Countdown? Whilst talking team news ahead of Brighton against Crystal Palace, Hurzeler flawlessly delivered the chance each injured Albion player has of featuring using percentages.
Joel Veltman? 50-50. Jack Hinshelwood? 40-60. Ferdi Kadioglu? 20-80. James Milner? 10-90. Thee from the top and two from the bottom please, Herr Hurzeler.
But what does all this mean in terms of Brighton against Palace team news? Seeing as the Albion are well-known for giving overly optimistic injury updates, we can probably assume none of Hinshelwood, Kadioglu or Milner will be available.
It also seems pretty unlikely Veltman will be involved. And has everyone – Hurzeler included – completely forgotten Adam Webster exists?
In contrast to Webster disappearing off the face of the planet, there has been plenty of chat about Solly March in the past week.
Hurzeler recently revealed that March told The Youngest Permanent Manager in Premier League History he is ready to return after 14 months out with an ACL injury.
And now March is backing up those words with action. Hurzeler said the winger has just completed a full week of training for the first time and is pushing to be an option on the bench against Palace.
Seagulls versus Eagles hardly seems like the sort of game to sensibly introduce a bloke into after two knee surgeries and over a year on the sidelines.
But it does sound like March could feature at some point over the festive period. What a Christmas present that would be.
Hurzeler also spoke about Yankubu Minteh, who made his own return from injury with a goal from the bench in the 2-2 draw with Leicester City.
“He is on the training pitch every day, he is fully motivated and he had a great impact at Leicester,” said Hurzeler.
Whether Minteh starts against Palace is another question entirely. It would presumably mean dropping one of Georginio Rutter, Joao Pedro or Danny Welbeck. The three players who have been the Albion’s best attackers so far this season.
There was no shying away from the potential elephant in the room during Hurzeler’s press conference, either.
The first question asked was about what happened at the King Power Stadium, where the Albion blew a 2-0 lead with five minutes remaining to draw.
Hurzeler responded by saying improving game management is a top priority. He wans to instil a winning culture into the squad, adding the disappointing goals Brighton have shipped this season “happen for a reason.”
He went onto accept responsibility, saying: “It always starts with me.” There would be no better time to sort the problem out than before Brighton face their arch rivals.
A similar embarrassing collapse against Palace of all teams and there might be some Brighton fans thinking Rachel Riley should take Hurzeler’s job, rather than the other way around…
