Sussex

Millie Sian
BBC Sport journalist

Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler has been speaking to the media before Saturday's Premier League game against Newcastle United at St James' Park (kick-off 15:00 BST).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Despite being forced off with an injury last time out, Mats Wieffer will be available. The right-back is managing "a small issue in his ankle" but has taken part in training all week.

• James Milner and Solly March will not feature at St James' Park. It is hoped both players "will be an option for the next game" against Wolves.

• When asked about both of their contracts expiring next month, Hurzeler replied: "I will never discuss internal things about contracts. All I can say is that working with them is great. We've had conversations with them both, so they know how we see them and our plan for the future."

• It is the same case regarding the futures of defenders Adam Webster and Joel Veltman.

• Diego Gomez is expected to play again this season despite picking up a knee injury last month. Hurzeler said: "I'm very happy about it. It is one of the best pieces of news I've received in the past few weeks." However, the central midfielder will not be part of this weekend's matchday squad.

• Danny Welbeck will "always be an option to start" due to his scoring record against the Magpies.

• When asked if the 35-year-old forward should be on the plane to the World Cup this summer, Hurzeler replied: "He is a great goalscorer, he can help every team in the world, he makes all the players around him better and he takes care of his team-mates off the pitch. A player like him is difficult to find. I can only give a lot of praise to him. I'm very grateful for the job he does at this club, so I hope he will get his chance."

• The extended break between matches was used as time to "refresh not relax". The Albion boss explained: "It was about refreshing mentally and physically after a very intense game against Chelsea. We came back with a lot of energy, enthusiasm and positivity."

• He doesn't take a lot of "personal satisfaction" from being nominated for Premier League manager of the month: "I'm responsible being the head coach, but I'm only as good as my players and my staff. It is never a one-man show. One of the biggest strengths of this club is its togetherness."

• Pascal Gross, who has also been nominated for Premier League player of the month, has been "superb" this season. Hurzeler praised the midfielder for being "a great connector on and off the pitch", understanding "players of different ages" and having "unbelievable quality".

• When asked how he is keeping his players focused on the European push, he replied: "I always keep my approach the same. We have a blue line in our daily work, which means we will never get too depressed when we have our lows and we will never get too euphoric when we have our highs. We know we have the ability, resilience and belief to get the result we deserve."

• The fact that Brighton could finish either third or 16th in the Premier League table with just four games to go proves that the league is "unbelievably tight and unpredictable" this season.

• On facing Eddie Howe's struggling side, he said: "We have a lot of respect for Newcastle. They have a great squad with great individual quality. They play with such an intensity and energy at their stadium, so we need to go there with the belief we can win. It will be a lot of hard work and we might have to suffer, but we want to be dominant and give ourselves a chance to win."

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Tottenham will sell goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario to Inter Milan this summer, with Brighton stopper Bart Verbruggen on their list of possible replacements. (Teamtalk, external)

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Brighton should aim to "get at" Newcastle from the first minute at St James' Park on Saturday, says former Albion midfielder Warren Aspinall, who believes the home crowd will "turn on" their team.

On the back of a dominant 3-0 victory against Chelsea last weekend, Aspinall doesn't want a lot to change from Fabian Hurzeler's side.

"I think Danny Welbeck will come in for Georginio Rutter but that will be it," Aspinall told BBC Radio Sussex's Albion Unlimited podcast.

"It's all about what we do and I'm sick of saying this but, who's going to be the X factor for Brighton on Saturday? Who's going to step up to the plate and keep this run going? That's what I'm asking and I think it will be our wide players.

"They need to put the foot down on the accelerator from the word 'go' - high intensity football like we did in the Chelsea game.

"This crowd will turn on Newcastle. I'm sure some of these players will go into their shell and not many of them go into the trenches when the going gets tough so, I'm hoping we get after them, get an early goal and the crowd will turn on them."

BBC Radio Newcastle's Matthew Raisbeck provided squad news for the Magpies as they're set to navigate injuries in their backline.

"Anthony Gordon's missed two matches with a minor hip injury but they're hoping to get him training this week and as of last Friday, Eddie Howe said they were looking at this Brighton match for him to get back," Raisbeck said.

"No Tino Livramento – he's picked up a thigh injury. Fabian Schar, the centre-half, wouldn't expect him back in the squad just yet.

"But they actually don't have too many injuries which is a good thing because they've been without so many players throughout the season."

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Dale Johnson
Football issues correspondent

We have received some questions via our Brighton 'Ask Me Anything' form around what happens if Hearts and Brighton qualify for Europe and get drawn against each other, does Tony Bloom's financial interest in both teams become problematic?

Bloom has expanded his football interests after making such a success of Brighton.

He now holds shares in Scottish Premiership leaders Hearts and Belgian club Union Saint-Gilloise.

All three could qualify for the same European competition this season.

If Hearts or Union Saint-Gilloise secure a place in Champions League qualifying, that could threaten Brighton's place in Europe.

That is because the team in the higher-ranked European competition would get priority if Uefa were to find a breach of multi-club ownership (MCO) rules.

For instance, by losing in Champions League qualifying Hearts or Union SG could potentially drop into the same competition as Brighton.

MCO rules would not allow this and the Seagulls would not be admitted into the competition at all.

Bloom had to reduce his controlling stake in Union Saint-Gilloise below 30% before the 2023-24 Europa League season, as Brighton had also qualified.

When he bought into Hearts last year, Bloom clearly had this conflict in mind by purchasing 29% of the Edinburgh club.

Bloom will hope his house is already in order.

Read more on clubs facing similar issues

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We want to reward your time by telling you things you do not know and reminding you of things you do.

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Brighton will have big decisions to make on which players they will let go to "bigger clubs" this summer, says former Chelsea striker Chris Sutton, as Albion prepare for potential European football next season.

"I think Brighton are a club viewed from the outside where so-called 'bigger' clubs can come and poach their players," Sutton told BBC Radio Sussex's Albion Unlimited podcast.

"They are a selling club essentially. It's not what Brighton fans want but I think they understand the model.

"The concern from the outside is how long can Danny Welbeck go on for? Because he's had a phenomenal season so I don't think, for his sake, that Brighton fans want him to go the World Cup. They'll want him resting and recuperating and putting his feet up.

"But I suppose there are always decisions to be made at the end of every season in terms of bigger clubs coming in for players and who Brighton are prepared to let go for a certain fee."

Fabian Hurzeler's side currently hold a Europa League qualification spot, as they sit sixth in the Premier League, and Sutton believes the south coast outfit will need the numbers if they want to compete in all competitions next season.

"I think Newcastle are a good example," Sutton said.

"They are a squad that hasn't coped with Champions League football [this season] and that would be the worry.

"But if you're a Brighton supporter, that's the dream isn't it? Champions League football is what you want. There's always that worry in the back of a supporter's mind - 'is the squad big enough and strong enough to compete on the European front?'.

"People talk about the volume of games players already have to cope with anyway and I get that, but as a fan you want to be involved and have those journeys across Europe with your family and the memories."

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Manchester United do not want to get into a bidding war for Nottingham Forest and England midfielder Elliot Anderson, 23, who is also a target for Manchester City, and could turn to other targets such as Brighton's Cameroon international Carlos Baleba. (ESPN, external)

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