Brighton, Feb 28 Brighton & Hove Albion face a stern test in the fifth round of the FA Cup when they travel to St. James Park on Sunday to face Newcastle United. Head coach Fabian Hurzeler has promised the Seagulls' fanbase that his side will give everything on the pitch but can’t guarantee a title. Brighton’s last, and only, major trophy came more than a century ago when they defeated Aston Villa 1-0 in the 1910 FA Charity Shield (later known as FA Community Shield).
"First of all, that's my job. I always try to give everything for the club, and, of course, I always want the club to be the most successful we can be. That's my job, together with the staff and players, and therefore we try that," he added.
"We promise everyone that we will try to give everything on the pitch and beside the pitch to make them proud, but we can't promise to win a title. That's the thing that we work on and the thing we try to do in our daily behaviour, and then we will see what will come in the future,” said Hurzeler in the pre-match press conference.
The Seagulls carved their spot in this round of the tournament after eliminating eight-time champions Chelsea from the tournament. However, Brighton may receive a boost surrounding the availability of Newcastle United striker Alexander Isak. The Swedish forward missed Wednesday night's 2-0 Premier League defeat at Liverpool with a slight groin problem.
Isak has been in sublime form in the league this season and has scored 21 goals whilst providing five assists in 30 games played across all competitions.
The German head coach labelled Isak as a ‘special player’ and said his side wouldn’t be gambling by not preparing to face the 25-year-old heading into the game.
"He [Isak] is a special player - a player who can make a difference. You can't replace a player like this because not every team has two, three, or four players of this quality. Therefore, it is a different game if he won't play, but the thing is now we don't know it, so we really have to prepare as if Isak will start. We have to prepare for his actions, for his behaviour and how we want to defend this together as a group," he added.
"You can't gamble and say he won't play. I am sure they will try everything to make him fit for the game, and we have to be ready for that,” he added.
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor