Brighton will remain without Joao Pedro against Tottenham in the Premier League this weekend.
The Brazilian forward sustained a knock while away on international duty last month and sat out two matches before returning off the bench in the 2-2 draw with Nottingham Forest, where he was hurt again following a lunging challenge from Morgan Gibbs-White that led to chaos at the Amex Stadium with the England midfielder eventually sent off along with both managers Nuno Espirito Santo and Fabian Hurzeler.
Pedro sat out last weekend’s 4-2 defeat at Chelsea that saw Cole Palmer become the first player in Premier League history to score four times in the first half of a match, having sustained an ankle injury and been seen using crutches after the game.
Hurzeler said before the trip to Stamford Bridge that he was unsure how long Brighton would be without the former Watford star, but insisted he was a fast healer and previously returned from an issue suffered in pre-season much quicker than expected.
But any faint hopes that he could have some involvement when the Seagulls host Tottenham on Sunday have now been extinguished by Hurzeler, though long-term absentee Solly March could feature for the first time in almost a year having recovered from a serious knee injury.
Joel Veltman, Brajan Gruda and James Milner should also be fit to face Spurs, though Matt O’Riley and Jan Paul van Hecke are still absent and Simon Adingra is also a doubt.
“Let’s start with the positive things, Brajan Gruda and Solly March,” Hurzeler told reporters at his pre-Tottenham press conference on Friday morning.
“They trained, they trained really good this week. They might be an option for the weekend. The long-term injuries for Matt O’Riley, Joao Pedro, JP [Van Hecke] and I’m forgetting someone... James Milner. But he is also an option for this weekend.
“There is positive and negative news, but in general we see more positives that the players come back.”
