Every word from Fabian Hurzeler ahead of Arsenal trip

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Albion will be looking to respond to a run of four games without a win.

2025-12-23T13:55+00:00

Fabian Hurzeler's team are ninth in the Premier League. 📷 by James Boardman.

Fabian Hurzeler held his press conference earlier than usual this week ahead of our trip to the Emirates on Saturday.

He spoke about his centre-back options, the January transfer window and rediscovering form in front of goal.

Could we start with the latest fitness and injury updates?

Danny Welbeck will train today, so he'll be back. Jan Paul van Hecke will train tomorrow (Wednesday), so he should be back. The two suspended players (Lewis Dunk and Diego Gomez) will be back and Mats Wieffer is okay. We go day-by-day and follow the procedure, but he looks quite well. I think that he will be available.

We understand Lewis Dunk has triggered an extension in his contract, how good will it be for you to have him here longer and also back this weekend?

Lewis Dunk has returned after serving a one-match suspension. 📷 by James Boardman.

He's my captain, he's my skipper. We know his value. He proved that this season so far, although he had a tough start. He has really discovered his form. He has had some great performances and he's the leader on and off the pitch. We are happy that he's back.

You may or may not be happy that the transfer window opens next week. Harry Howell is a name that's been mentioned, and he hasn't played much for the first team after coming back from injury. Do you see him being here for the rest of the season or is maybe a loan move a possibility for him?

Harry Howell has made two first team appearances so far this season. 📷 by Paul Hazlewood.

We have had an open exchange with him and his agent. I think the rumours are just noise, he's back in our environment now. We have some clear values, some clear principles we want to see from every player. We know that Harry Howell has big potential, that Harry Howell can be a big player for us. But first of all, it's about hard work and delivering every day in every training session. Sometimes I have to think about sending him for a doping test because he is so good in training! That's what I demand from the young players. If he's doing that, he has a big chance to be a great player for us. I really look forward to working with him.

Away from Harry, have you had any further conversations about potential incomings in January?

We always try to understand what is best for the club, to understand what is best for the individual players. The transfer market will be open, let’s see if we will be active.

Are there any specific areas you may or may not be targeting?

I won't say.

It's four games without a win now. But, as you mentioned after the Sunderland match, it’s very close in the table. How do you get back to your best against Arsenal?

Why should we change is the question, because we know the issue. The issue is we have to overcome the consistency thing. We have to play well for 90 minutes. We have to understand that it's about scoring goals. It's about defending the goal, doing the work in the small margins, not for 10 or 15 minutes but for 90-plus minutes.

If we are doing this we are very difficult to beat and we can have a good season, but we have to understand how important the small margins are. But I see a team who put in a lot of effort. I see a team training hard. I see a team with big, big potential. We proved that we can beat every team in the league. So why should we change something?

We have to reflect and analyse the games with honesty, with ownership from us as individuals and as a group. On the other side, we have a big self-belief that we can beat every team in the league and that's also what we try to do on Saturday.

You mentioned scoring goals. The shot number is high, the goals scored number is not. Is there anything more you can do with the strikers, if that's specifically where you want the goals to come from?

We are known for being a team with several players that can score goals, and we proved so far this season that a lot of players are also involved in creating goalscoring opportunities. We want to stay unpredictable, but of course, goal scorers help. But if we don't have a goal scorer on the pitch at the moment, then we have to find other solutions. Other solutions are to keep working harder and give short pieces of advice of what needs to be done – maybe to be more calm in the opponent's box, what positions we have to be more present in and how we want to attack the box better. In the end it's about responsibility because at some point the ball will be there and then you can score.

It's not going to be easy against the league leaders. How are you going to come away from London with a positive result?

The most important is to get the small margins right against Arsenal. To defend set pieces well, to be good in and out of possession. We have to stay alive for 90 minutes. But we can't go there with the mindset of thinking only about defending. We have to play with courage. We will try to bring our style of play on the pitch. We know that we can beat every team in the league, although it will be big challenge. But we go there to win.

Do you feel Brighton have got a hoodoo with Arsenal in that you've gone to the Emirates in in recent seasons and got draws and wins there? Is there maybe a little fear factor from Arsenal?

You’ll have to ask them. We try to focus on our performance and doing the small things well for 90 minutes. Then you have a chance to win it. If you're only playing one phase of the game well, you have no chance against them because they are capable of scoring in every moment. They're good in transition, good at set-pieces, good in and out of possession. They are the best team in the league at the moment. So you have to be good in every minute of the game. You have to stay alive, you have to be alert to what's going on. On the other side, we know that we can hurt teams and that's what we try to do as well.

You played them earlier in the season in the League Cup. Is there anything you can take from that?

You can learn from every game and that's our approach, to understand how they reacted to our change of formation and understand if it's necessary to change the formation again and understand where they might have problems. There will be different players on the pitch.

Is there a decision about your central defence to make or do you automatically revert to your preferred starting partnership?

Olivier Boscagli made his second Premier League start in the goalless draw with Sunderland. 📷 by Paul Hazlewood.

Definitely there's a decision to make, but I mentioned after the Sunderland game that it’s important to have a great selection of centre-backs because that brings competition and a good feeling going into this period where we have a lot of games, knowing that we can rely on Olivier (Boscagli) and Diego (Coppola). It's not only important for me, it's also important for them, that they proved they're ready as a team and as individuals.

At the moment it's four without a win. Is that just pure coincidence or is that something that can happen this time of the year with fatigue and strain on the squad?

It's a good question. If I had the answer, I would give it to you. I think it's coincidence, but we try to keep pushing hard. You have to stay calm. You have to focus on the performances. We know how tight the league is and, as I said it before, it's about overcoming the issue with our consistency and overcoming it faster than the opponent. Do that and you have a big chance.

Do you have instructions for the players on Christmas Day to perhaps not overindulge? Have they got an extra day off, or will they be training and working hard over Christmas?

We’ve managed to stay in our normal routine, but definitely, I try to give them more time off because it's family time and I think family is the most important thing in life. I'm sure that some of my players don't see their family that often, so they have the chance to see them now, to get mentally recovered, to see their loved ones, to have nice chats, to maybe have some nice surprises and to spend some time together. That's why I try to give them as much time off as possible. That’s my responsibility. Then I hope that they come back stronger.

Players in other countries are going to have a lot longer off because they have a winter break. This country is very different. How do you see that and is it a bad thing?

I think we shouldn't complain about playing too many games because we are not in European competition. There are other teams who play more games than us. We try to keep our mental freshness and the availability high. Then we try to keep the positivity and the mood high in the building. It's important to find a good balance between hard work and being mentally refreshed. Then we try to push through this period with energy and positivity, having fun together and trying to be successful.

A lot of the focus has been on not taking chances. Do you think the players are starting to try too hard? Is there an element of that pressure starting to build?

We are a young squad that have a lot of willpower, a lot of things they try to do. They want to maybe force some things at times, but it's very important to stay relaxed, to stay calm. Things will come back to you if you keep working hard, if you do the easy things right, if you keep staying connected. We are quite convinced that the goal scorers will come back.

One of those young players is Brajan Gruda. How do you think he's growing into the role now he's getting more time in the team?

Brajan Gruda has started five Premier League games so far this campaign. 📷 by Paul Hazlewood.

He's doing well, he looks sharp, he looks physically ready. He's getting more and more into his rhythm. He doesn't have any issue at the moment. That’s the most important thing, to stay available. Then he's getting more and more mature with his performances, trying to avoid the easy mistakes. He's trying to attack the opponent's box and learning how to be an offensive player who's very good at pressing. We are quite pleased with his development, but he's still not where we want to have him. He still needs to improve his threat in the opponent's box and we try to help him with that.