Every word from Fabian Hurzeler ahead of Fulham away

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Albion have six points from their last four Premier League games.

2026-01-23T14:45+00:00

Fabian Hurzeler's team could move to within a point of the top six should they win on Saturday. 📸 by Simon Roe.

Fabian Hurzeler talked about the upcoming tough test at Craven Cottage, Babis Kostoulas and Jan Paul van Hecke in his press conference on Friday.

Team news. Is Maxim De Cuyper available?

Yes he will be back. In general we survived this phase of games despite having a lot of players who were sick and ill, I hope now that we are in a more stable phase. It seems to be quite good regarding the availability [of our players] now.

So no new knocks since the Bournemouth game?

Nothing new.

Looking back on that dramatic last minute equaliser. How's Charalampos Kostoulas been this week since then?

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It’s important to understand his big potential, and we all know that he can really change the game for us, but there are also other things that are really important for us as a club, like sticking to our culture, sticking to our values. He's still a young player. He is still in a phase where he needs to develop and we will try to help him. But overall, we are pleased to have a good back-up for Danny Welbeck. We have two great goal scorers and two good strikers in our team. That's definitely helpful.

He's had most of his appearances off the bench. Is he pushing for a start?

He's definitely pushing through his performances, that's for sure. But in the end we still have Danny Welbeck as well. It's always a tough decision.

Marco Silva at Fulham talks about fine margins a lot. He says that you have to nudge those fine margins in your favour to turn those draws into wins, how do you do that?

Marco Silva took over Fulham in summer 2021. 📸 by Paul Hazlewood.

Do your job, I think that's the main bit. When we look back against Bournemouth and how we conceded the goal it was after our set-piece, so we could have defended it easily. That's what I mean with getting the small margins right. The league – and I am repeating myself – is so competitive, it's so tight at the moment so the small margins make the difference: defending against a set piece, knowing your role when we attack with a set-piece, knowing your role from a throw in. It's just knowing and doing your job and then these smaller things will make the difference in each game. Regarding tomorrow, this will make the difference against Fulham. We have to be on our highest level and do our job for 90 minutes.

Is that something you can influence as a coach or is that something that the players really have to take personal responsibility for?

It's always the responsibility for me and the coaches because we have to make sure that our messages are clear enough for the players and not too complicated. But for sure we need players on the pitch to help themselves and take ownership and responsibility. I'm pleased with my group and of the characters I have on the pitch.

One issue you talked about was time wasting by Bournemouth. You were particularly annoyed by that. Is that something you talk to your players about as well?

I think in certain moments it's definitely about game management. But I think when there are clear rules in football. I remember when I was a young player and we played indoor competitions. There was always a clock and the clock stopped when the ball was out. So we always had the same minutes with the ball on the pitch. I think that makes the sport much more attractive. Rules will definitely help because otherwise there's a lot of grey zones - how you waste time, how you can win games but in the end it's about playing football. We all want to win games and there are still a lot of options to waste time, but in general I think clear rules will definitely make it much more attractive. .

In the Premier League era Brighton haven't won at Craven Cottage. Is that something that would be in your thinking going into the game?

No. We see it more as an opportunity to go there and try to make history for our fans. I think that's our responsibility and what we try to do tomorrow.

Two evenly matched teams, just the point between you. You drew with them earlier in the season. Do you see much evolution in Fulham? Do you see any difference now?

They are always a tough opponent because they're very mature. They know how to win games. They have clear patterns in possession, they are very compact out of possession. Marco Silva's doing a brilliant job there so it's a big challenge. But we try to go there and win the game.

Now you’re only contending with long term injuries, is this potentially the best squad that you've ever had since you've been here?

Unfortunately, they're not all available as Mats Wieffer is still out and he's still a big player. Then of course we have the players in the squad who are not able to start the game, they are quite limited regarding their game minutes. Regarding the whole squad, the availability is quite good. Regarding individual players, there are still some players who have to be modified, so they can't be on the highest level. If we get them on the highest level then we have a really strong squad.

Is Yankuba Minteh one of those players? He came on and made a real impact. He's made more sprints this season than any other player. Where can he improve and is he somebody you've got to manage?

Yankuba Minteh celebrates with Babis Kostoulas after the Greek striker scored a wonderful bicycle-kick against Bournemouth. 📸 by James Boardman.

He is one player we need to manage. We don't know if he's able to start or not. He came back after a small issue and is definitely someone we need to manage at the moment. He's a good example of what I meant about individual players that are not at the highest level and that's what we have to work to get them back on track.

One player who's starting regularly is Jan Paul van Hecke. He's turning into a bit of an attacking weapon for you as well as a defensive rock as well. He has more goal contributions than any other defender this season.

Jan Paul van Hecke nodded the ball down for Babis Kostoulas to score on Monday. 📸 by Paul Hazlewood.

We all know that he’s a top defender, he helps us to build up the game and he's very effective in breaking lines. He has a desire and a great mentality to be a winner on the pitch. In certain moments he's a very offensive-thinking player and he's trying to attack the box. In the end, it's about having a good balance between doing a job in the rest defence and organising the defence. And then in certain moments, of course, to have the freedom to attack the opponent's box.

There’s ten days left of the transfer window. I know you won't speak about specific players, but what are you expecting from this week? You mentioned there might be a bit of a late flurry of activity or potential opportunities…

The window is still open so everything is possible. But what I always emphasise is that I'm happy with the squad and we have a daily exchange with Tony (Bloom). So if we need to do something regarding giving players more game time or getting players into the squad then I'm sure that we'll make the right decisions. But at the moment we are happy.

Is it more likely goings out than comings in? Diego Coppola has been linked to a few clubs this week.

I think it's a 50/50 situation. Diego might be one player, but we really enjoy working with him here. We have seen a great development. There's a World Cup upcoming, and I'm quite sure that he will be in the future a big player. But we have to analyse the individual situation for each player. What is best for the club, what is best for the individual development of each player and then we have to make the right decision.

In terms of Fulham, what's going to be the key in terms of your team's performance to overcome a side with the threats that they have?

We spoke about the small margins, right? To do your job, no matter if it's set piece or a throw in or a corner. It's very important against them to be alive for 90 minutes because they're quite effective in taking their chances. They have a very mature team and mature players on the pitch, so they can punish your mistakes easily and I think that's something we have to be aware of. And then second of all they defend quite well in a compact block. We have to be patient and not force it. We have to wait for the right moment to overcome these things. I think being patient and being mature will be the key.

Are you looking forward to being on the touchline?

It's the first time (at Fulham), so let's see how experience will be. I'm definitely looking forward to it.

You were up in the stand. It was a different experience up there, wasn't it? I guess did you take something from it?

It's an opportunity to see a game maybe from a different level but it was not a great experience, especially as from the locker room to where I had to sit was a long way through a lot of their supporters. So it wasn't something I really enjoyed, but I definitely learned something.