Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler has distinguished himself from conversations about securing European football prior to the Midweek Premier League promotion.
The seagulls climb at the table after achieving an impressive victory against Southampton on Saturday and are now only three points against the sixth placed Bournemouth, with whom they are confronted on Tuesday.
But the German refused to speculate whether his side could return to Europe with an impressive run to the end of the season.
For the game he said: “If you win games, there is always a good atmosphere. We are grateful that it is, but it is hard work. We must retain the momentum and understand why we have this momentum.
“I never look too much at the table. You can only influence how you play. At the end of the season you can look at the table. But at the moment the game is per game and it tries to get the best performance from the players.
“The most important thing at this club is the development of young players and the group. We had many new signing sessions when we started. Now it’s about having internal goals where we want to go. We will see what happens at the end of the season, but it is too early to talk about reaching Europe. We have to wait for the right time to talk about it. ‘
Our boss. 💛💙 pic.twitter.com/8jubgwsv9o
– Brighton & Hove Albion (@officialbhafc) February 23, 2025
Cherries in the city
Brighton has a huge opportunity to draw level on points with their European rivals when Bournemouth visits the Amex.
The seagulls have a worse target difference for their opponents, which means that a victory could not lift them in the sixth, depending on other results, but it would put them right in the mix.
But the side of Andoni Iraola was one of the surprises of the season in 2024-25 and on their day every Premier League club can match.
Hurzeler is aware of this and admits that it is difficult to know what they can expect from them.
He added: “It’s hard to make a match plan against Bournemouth, but it’s hard to do that for one of the clubs in the competition. Bournemouth is very clear in the style they play.
“They are very intense. It will be a challenge for us to compete against them and we must be mentally and physically at the highest level to be ready for them.
“But we will be able to do it because we have proven it in recent weeks. We must retain and improve the standards to be ready for the challenge against Bournemouth.
“Dango Ouattara, Antoine Semenyo and Justin Kluivert are all very fast and athletic. They are all very good at transitions. But we must try to avoid these transition moments. “
This duo. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/aos8kyqiec
– Brighton & Hove Albion (@officialbhafc) February 22, 2025
Pedro Power
If Brighton has to win, they have to rely on the quality of Joao Pedro, who finally comes back in shape.
The Brazilian yielded the opener against Southampton and will probably get the nod to start again in such an important game.
Hurzeler said about his striker: “Joao is a player who always has self -confidence. He knows that he can decide the game with one action. He not only has that thinking, but also the quality and skills to do it, as he proved last week.
“It is more important for me how he behaves as a team player and he proved last week that he was always there for his teammates. It showed me that he is really dedicated to this club and wants to be the team player who wants everyone to be.
“I am very happy that he came back to the field and earns what he gets because of his behavior, his attitude in training and of course his quality.”
