Sussex

Tyrese King
BBC Sport journalist

Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler has been speaking to the media before Saturday's Premier League game at Manchester City (kick-off 15:00 GMT).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Hurzeler said Lewis Dunk is still not available due to injury but is "getting closer" to returning. There is hope Dunk can recover after the international break in time for the FA Cup quarter-final against Nottingham Forest.

• Matt O'Riley still "has a little bit of a problem with his knee" so will not feature but Hurzeler hopes he will be able to return after the international break.

• Meanwhile, Tariq Lamptey will be an "option" after serving his suspension.

• On thriving in the race for the Champions League places: "Honestly, I love pressure. So, I always find a way to deal with it. I never feel pressure from the owner or from outside [influences] because I put it on myself. In the end, but the biggest pressure I put on myself because I'm the most demanding person.

• On how his ambitions align with the club's: "I want the best for the club, which is success. We do this by our daily behaviour, pushing our limits every day and getting the best out of the group. And then we will see where we end in our season."

• As a result, he is confident his team can be successful: "I have the biggest belief inside of myself that this team can achieve something because we have a great togetherness in the group. We have players with individual potential, and that helps give belief to the whole club."

• On last year's champions City and their downturn in form this season: "They're still one of the best teams in the world and Pep [Guardiola] is still one of the best managers in the world. For me, it's very important to go there with a big portion of humbleness but also with a big belief in ourselves that we can beat every team in the league as we have proved this season. That's what we will try to prove tomorrow."

• On Brighton's chances of getting a first win at Etihad Stadium: "It's not about chasing any records. It's chasing our own behaviour, chasing our own limits. That's what we have to do tomorrow as well against City."

Follow all of Friday's Premier League news conferences and the rest of the day's football news

Alex Brotherton
BBC Sport journalist

Image source, Getty Images

Brighton manager Dario Vidosic is not concerned despite his side's failure to win any of their last seven Women's Super League games.

A strong start to the season means the Seagulls are still fifth in the table, but they have claimed just three of the last 21 points available with their last victory coming in November.

"You learn a lot about the squad and myself, about things we can do differently, on and off the pitch," Vidosic said before Brighton's WSL game against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.

"It's easy when you win, the sun seems brighter, but we need these periods to learn what needs fixing. Hopefully we'll come out a better team and myself a better coach."

Brighton were unfortunate not to beat WSL leaders Chelsea earlier this month, with Lauren James scoring from an offside position to level the game at 2-2. Brighton also felt they should have been awarded a penalty when they led 2-1.

While Vidosic would have liked video assistant referee (VAR) to have been in use that day, he sympathised with the officials.

"Everyone wants to be perfect, myself, every single player, and I guarantee the referees are the same. But we all make mistakes and that's part of the game.

"It went against us against Chelsea but they were tough calls. It's easy once you see the replay, an official only has one set of eyes. I think eventually we'll see it [VAR] in the women's game."

Here are the other key lines from Vidosic before Sunday's game at Brisbane Road (kick-off 15:00 GMT).

• Bruna Vilamala remains sidelined with a thigh injury but is "near" to returning.

• Jorelyn Carabali's knee injury is not ACL-related so she should return a "couple of weeks" after Vilamala.

• Vidosic on poor away form: "We didn't deal with tough trips and long trips after the winter break. We need to learn from that."

• On the form of Marisa Olislagers: "She's a highly technical player, very intelligent as well. I have to compliment her for when she wasn't in the squad, the way she trained and conducted herself."

Image source, Getty Images

We asked for you to tell us in one sentence why Brighton will qualify for the Champions League.

Here are some of your comments:

Ian: Brighton have the momentum and there are no immovable objects in our way.

Brian: I think 20 points should be enough, which is six wins, two draws and two defeats.

Hugh: Owner, chief executive, managerial staff and squad well aligned = Champions League football is a high probability!

Peter: The team play as a cohesive unit, believing in their potential to win against any opposition and backed up by an exemplar management structure that other clubs would be proud of.

Max: They have belief in themselves and are not afraid of any club.

Trevor: Togetherness.

Image source, Getty Images

Former Brighton defender Adam Virgo says the club should look to recruit a set-piece specialist in the summer transfer window.

Speaking on BBC Radio Sussex's Albion Unlimited podcast, Virgo said: "[Set-pieces] are a massive part of the game, and there was a periods when Lewis Dunk was getting a decent return of goals from set plays.

"It's all about that delivery, If you're not beating the near post, or you're over-hitting it, then you're not going to score as many goals. The one player who has always been there with a wand of a foot is Pascal Gross. That is now missing.

"I couldn't really tell you who our free-kick taker is. With all the stats that Brighton tend to work with, maybe they should go and find someone in that area that works for set plays. The height is there in Danny [Welbeck] and both centre-halves."

Listen to the full episode here

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Brighton owner Tony Bloom has bought a 19.1% stake in Australian A-League club Melbourne Victory.

The deal allows the Seagulls chairman to increase his ownership over time.

Bloom is already an investor in Belgian Pro League club Union Saint-Gilloise and has an involvement with Scottish Premiership club Hearts.

Image source, Getty Images

After Brighton lost 7-0 to Nottingham Forest, Fabian Hurzeler said he picked a formation that was too attacking. He created something which just did not work in the moment.

There are not seven goals between those teams and sometimes you get freak results. Hurzeler knew it was not a game to overreact to, but to learn lessons from. The lesson to learn was not in terms of mentality but in terms of setup.

Since then, he has set his team up in a way that compliments each individual player more and compliments the style he wants them to play, which is defensively solid with a significant threat in attack and to be truly balanced.

Some of the goals and individual moments they have had in their impressive run since have been great, but the key is square pegs in square holes and finding the right combinations.

The sign of a good football club is how they react when adverse things start to happen. The key was their reaction after the 7-0 loss and they showed great determination to get the first win and then the second and so on.

Then, before you know it, there is the belief they will win every single game. When they step out onto the field they know they are set up correctly, the manager knows and trusts his players to do the job required.

Now they fear nobody because they have the belief they can win against anyone, which is priceless in football. That means they can go toe-to-toe with any style and most players are playing really well.

Belief can get you going a yard quicker, jumping a few centimetres higher and get you striking that ball a little more often towards goal.

That belief exists now in the players, the fans, and the manager on the sideline.

Nedum Onuoha was speaking to BBC Sport's Nat Hayward

Nicola Pearson
BBC Sport journalist

"Embarrassing performance", "the manager got it all wrong" and "is it time for a change?"

That was the reaction from some fans on this page after Brighton were demolished 7-0 by Nottingham Forest at the beginning of February.

But was that result just a bad day at the office for Fabian Hurzeler's team this season?

Since that heavy loss by another side chasing European football, the Seagulls have won six consecutive games across all competitions.

A bounce-back and then some.

With potentially season-defining games against Manchester City, Forest in the FA Cup quarter-final and Aston Villa to come in the next month, should fans be concerned about the impressive run coming to an end?

Perhaps not.

That is because a strength of Brighton's this season has been their ability to get results against the top teams.

According to Football365, the south coast side are second only to Premier League leaders Liverpool in gaining points against top-half teams this season, and that is not taking into account results against those sides in cup competitions.

From the 14 league matches they have played against those top 10 teams, Brighton have won six, drawn four and lost four.

In the past six games in all competitions since the 7-0 defeat by Forest alone, they have beaten Chelsea twice, Bournemouth, Newcastle and Fulham.

Prior to that, they held second-placed Arsenal to a draw twice, beat Manchester City and pushed Liverpool close in both the Carabao Cup and the league.

Having struggled in the period before Christmas, getting another foray into Europe looked to be slipping out of reach, but their turnaround in form sees them now sit seventh in the league and just three points off the top four.

Bringing in a manager that was younger than a number of senior players looked from afar to be a risk, but Hurzeler appears to now be getting the results to match the play and performances.

If he can continue to mastermind results against the top sides, particularly in the run to the end of the season, it could be a gamble that pays off with another European adventure and cup glory.

Ten games to go and we need your positivity.

It is looking likely the Premier League will be awarded an extra Champions League spot for the 2025-26 season, so finishing fifth will mean a seat at Europe's top table.

We want you to tell us, in just one sentence, why Brighton will qualify for the Champions League.

Let us know here

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We asked you what nobody is talking about at Brighton but really should be.

Here are some of your comments:

Kyle: The entire club. People are still shocked when we cause problems for the bigger teams and show up competing for Europe. People have been living under a rock and haven't caught on to the fact that we've been one of the best-run clubs in world football for a good few years now.

Alistair: It's been talked about a bit, but Diego Gomez looks like another gem. If he can form a reliable partnership with Carlos Baleba, we might have the next Mac Allister-Caicedo pairing on our hands.

Anton: When will we stick with a long-term team ie a regular squad that we won't see dissolve every season through selling for profit? While I fully understand Tony Bloom's goal is to have a profit, making a robust Brighton that will never be in financial turmoil - and we are all enormously grateful for that - I wonder how long it will be until we see more players staying season after season?

Wells: I was driving a mate of mine to a match and asked him this question: "Do Brighton have the strongest second XI of any Premier League club?" He looked at me in disbelief, then after a period of reflection, he couldn't disagree!

O: Maybe not in terms of going under the fans' radar, but Simon Adingra is certainly going under Hurzeler's. A very capable Premier League player who was great last season, who even got two assists in the Africa Cup of Nations final, is barely getting used. If I were him, I would demand minutes!