Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler has addressed Joao Pedro’s injury ahead of his side’s Premier League return against Newcastle this weekend.
The Seagulls travel to St James’ Park on Saturday for a meeting between two aspirational teams currently level on points in sixth and seventh place respectively with Brighton only ahead due to a slightly superior goal difference, full of confidence after fighting back from a 2-0 half-time deficit to stun in-form Tottenham in their final match before the most recent international break.
That rousing comeback ended a run of four top-flight games without a win for Brighton, who also have a double-header against Liverpool - including a Carabao Cup last-16 showdown - coming up in the weeks ahead as well as the visit of defending champions Manchester City and back-to-back meetings with south coast rivals Bournemouth and Southampton.
However, it remains to be seen when exactly key forward Pedro returns, with the Brazilian international having been sidelined with an ankle injury since coming off the bench in a feisty 2-2 draw with Nottingham Forest on September 22 and falling victim to a heavy challenge from Morgan Gibbs-White that saw the latter sent off.
Speaking ahead of the trip to Newcastle, Seagulls head coach Hurzeler confirmed again that the former Watford star’s issue was “longer-term” and required more time for recovery, putting him in the same bracket as summer signing Matt O’Riley and centre-back Adam Webster.
Brighton will have Dutch defender Jan Paul van Hecke back from injury against Newcastle, but James Milner has had a fresh setback and Pervis Estupinan and Julio Enciso will both be assessed after returning from international duty in South America.
Hurzeler hopes to have the rest of his squad fit for a potentially tough challenge on Tyneside, with the likes of Simon Adingra, Georginio Rutter and Carlos Baleba also having dealt with knocks of late but expected to play.
Solly March recently made his first appearance for almost a full year for Brighton’s Under-21s in a 10-0 rout of rivals Crystal Palace, though won’t make his first-team comeback just yet.
“Still waiting for players to return from international duty - Pervis Estupinan and Julio Enciso… but no known issues currently,” Hurzeler said of Brighton’s latest team news at Thursday morning’s pre-Newcastle press conference.
“Joao Pedro, Adam Webster and Matt O’Riley are longer-term, but JP van Hecke comes back into contention.”
