Every word from Fabian Hurzeler before Chelsea at home

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Head coach will be aiming for Albion to move above the Blues on Tuesday night.

Charlie Hanson

2026-04-20T14:15+01:00

Fabian Hurzeler's team are ninth in the Premier League ahead of their match against Chelsea. 📸 by James Boardman.

Fabian Hurzeler discussed Diego Gomez's injury, selection headaches and returning to the Amex after a month away in his press conference ahead of Chelsea's visit on Tuesday.

How pleased were you for Georginio Rutter to score on Saturday? Today is his birthday too…

Georginio Rutter netted a late equaliser in our draw at Tottenham. 📸 by James Boardman.

I am very pleased because no one [but us] sees the effort he's giving every day. No one sees the work he's doing in the shadows. He went through a very tough period, a period where he suffered because we know he's a player who always wants to be on the pitch, who wants to get as many minutes as possible, but sometimes that's not possible. He kept fighting, he kept believing and now he’s showing a great effort. He had a great impact when he came on the pitch and finally he got the reward by scoring the goal. Hopefully it gives him a push for the final part of the season.

In terms of the team news, how is Diego Gomez doing?

Diego won't be available [to face Chelsea], but it's quite positive news - it's not as bad as we expected. We have to go week by week now, but hopefully it's not an injury that rules him out for months. We have to be patient and see how it develops, but it's definitely not a big injury.

What is the injury?

Kaoru Mitoma replaced Diego Gomez, going on to score our first goal in the 2-2 draw with Tottenham. 📸 by James Boardman.

It's something with his knee. He had a scan and we have to re-scan him in a few days to be clear as to what it is. But what I can say is that it's not as bad as some of us expected it to be.

Kaoru Mitoma came on for him and then also got taken off later in the match. How's he doing?

Kaoru is good, he just had some cramps. He felt it a little bit in the warm-up. But he had a very effective short performance on the pitch, scoring the equaliser and he also had some good actions. It was just a minor issue and he will be available tomorrow.

In terms of Kaoru Mitoma and Jan Paul van Hecke, you mentioned that discussions were underway regarding their futures. Is there been any progress on that?

Still positive, still in talks but also focusing on the things that are very important for the club, and I think that's also the perspective from the players. They want to give their best for Brighton because they're fully committed. You can see it in every training session. You can see it in every performance that they give their best. So that's the main focus.

Olivier Boscagli has been excellent in the last two matches, deputising for the captain Lewis Dunk. Is it as simple as Lewis just coming straight back in because he is the captain? Or has Olivier done enough for you to actually give him a further run of games?

We know how important our skipper is for us. He was out for a few weeks. He has recovered well regarding his knee. We all know that he has had a really good season so far. He's a big personality. He gives me a lot - he helps me a lot, he supports me a lot. So he's fully fit. Of course we want to have him on the pitch. Regarding Ollie, he played two really good games. He showed his quality, he replaced Lewis in a very impressive way. It's really great for me to have these kind of options.

Two months ago you were 13 points behind Chelsea. Ahead of this match, that's down to one point. How impressed have you been with your team in closing that gap?

I'm impressed by the character, by the resilience the team showed, especially how they stuck together, how they have held each other accountable, how they work in every training session. They went through a tough period. But they showed great resilience. They showed an unbelievable connection between each other. Sometimes the social bond between people can create more than quality can. And that's the main focus we try to have in the final part of the season. I am really happy for the players, happy for the staff because they do great work in the shadows. I think it's togetherness that we showed and now we are in a position where we should really embrace what we all worked hard for. Now it's about enjoying these moments, enjoying these kind of games because I think it's a great opportunity for us to grow.

You mentioned the great opportunity, they are your direct rivals for some kind of European football. With the squad they have available, do you think Liam Rosenior should be doing better with these players?

Liam Rosenior was a part of the Albion team that won promotion from the Championship in 2017. 📸 by Paul Hazlewood.

That's definitely not the question I should answer. I should really focus on us, on our consistency and on our performances. We know that we can play better football than we played against Tottenham. What was really positive was that our substitutes had a great impact, that we always believed we could come back, that we looked like a really fit and sharp team – that's really important. In the final part of the season you have to be physically and mentally on your highest level and we go into this period with big belief. We have big confidence going into this game and we want to enjoy it. We want to be very humble starting this game. We want to start this game with a lot of intensity, with a lot of energy to immediately create a really good atmosphere together with our fans – to connect with them. That's the main focus from us and then hopefully we can get a positive result and make our supporters proud.

Chelsea are on a bit of a miserable run results wise, but did you see a lot in particularly the Manchester United game that they're quite close to clicking and producing better results?

They have the quality to beat every team in the league. They are not on the best run but, like you mentioned, they play good football and they had a good performance. That's why it's very important for us to keep doing the basic things right, to keep doing our things on the highest level and to the highest standards – I think this will be the main bit against Chelsea. We have to play intensely again, you have to play with a lot of power and energy if you want to compete with them. On top of that, we need to stick to our style of play, to our principles. We also have a big belief that we can beat them, although we know that they have a lot of individual quality and showed good performances recently.

Injury permitting, it could be Joao Pedro's first return to the Amex. Has it been tougher than you expected to replace his goals from last season?

Joao Pedro has scored 14 Premier League goals so far this campaign. 📸 by James Boardman.

I wouldn't say tougher than expected because we all know he’s one of the best strikers in the Premier League. You can't replace him one-to-one. But what we showed is a great team togetherness on this. We stuck together, we replaced him with different goalscorers. We have a lot of different goalscorers, so that's very positive.

Diego Gomez was obviously very upset when he came off at the weekend. How is he now?

He's a positive guy and he showed a really good, positive reaction yesterday. So speaking to him yesterday gave me a lot of hope because I really feel for him – he's a great lad. He's an unbelievable player with such a good heart and I have built a really close relationship with him. You really suffer with players, you can just imagine what's going on in their heads. I was a bit relieved yesterday when I got his message because then I felt quite positive. So let's see the next scan. Overall, I'm a positive person, he's a positive person. We should all be positive and then I'm sure positive things will happen.

Can we be positive about Pascal Gross? Does he continue to surprise you in what he achieves and the impact that he makes on the pitch? I know the long term issue is how do you replace someone like Pascal Gross, but what about at the moment?

Pascal Gross has been an ever-present since his return to the club in January. 📸 by James Boardman.

We have a 40-year-old who's still playing. So Pascal is still young at 35 – so five more years to go for him! We shouldn't speak about how to replace him and, second of all, he doesn't surprise me because when you see him working every day, when you see him connecting every day, when you see him supporting and behaving as a leader every day he's not only a great role model on the pitch, he's a great connector beside the pitch. I have said it now many, many times that he makes everyone around him better by just having a good understanding of the person he talks to, by just having a good understanding of the different generations we have to work with. That's something that is so crucial and helps me a lot.

You mentioned James Milner, is he available for this one?

Not yet, but I'm sure that we'll see him back this season.

Solly March wasn't involved at the weekend. Has he had a setback?

It's a minor issue. He had in training a small muscle issue, I wouldn't say injury, but we have to be aware of it. So he won't be available tomorrow. But then he should be back.

Matt O'Riley was in the squad on Saturday and got a little bit of a cameo in the game. Tell us about your thoughts on him and maybe his future with the football club, because he's not really been featuring in the match day squad recently?

Matt O'Riley was brought on as a substitute in our game at Spurs. 📸 by James Boardman.

You judge him by his daily behaviour and how he performs in the training sessions, how he tries to improve every day. It’s been impressive. I'm a hundred percent sure that long term he will have a very successful career because his mindset is just the right one. He has a creative mentality, and on top of that, he's a good football player. He has some quality we sometimes need in our squad, so I try to give him game time. I had a meeting with him last week where I really spoke in an honest way to him about how the situation is for him, but also how I appreciate how he behaves and that he gives everything for the badge. So let's see what the future brings, but now we should really focus on the present and see how he can help.

As for you, are you looking forward to being back in the dugout?

Definitely. I was very happy and very pleased for my assistant coaches, for my staff. They did a great job. It creates responsibility, a great ownership together with the players. They have built a really good connection and I always know that I can rely on them. That's a really positive thing. But on the other side, I want to be near to the players. I want to give them a good feeling from beside the pitch.

It's been over a month since you were last at the Amex, what are you expecting?

Honestly, I have really missed it. I was thinking about this because in the last two home games against Arsenal and Liverpool there was an unbelievable atmosphere, an incredible environment, one where we felt really pushed, where we felt very energised by our supporters. It was also in our environment where no one wants to enter, because it's not only difficult to play against us, it will be difficult to play against our fans. This is something that’s been really building through the season, this connection. Hopefully we can create another great atmosphere tomorrow because if we have loud and supportive energy, we perform better. That's the truth. I say to the supporters, thanks for the support so far and hopefully we can have another great night tomorrow at the Amex.