Brighton and Hove Albion’s new head coach Roberto De Zerbi has played down Chelsea boss Graham Potter’s knowledge of the Seagulls as the Italian seeks his first win since taking charge.
Potter makes his first return to the Amex Stadium tomorrow (Saturday 29 October) after ending a three-year spell with Brighton last month to succeed Thomas Tuchel at Stamford Bridge.
Albion were fourth in the Premier League after Potter’s final game in charge – a 5-2 home victory over Leicester on Sunday 4 September.
But they have since slipped to ninth with De Zerbi taking just two points from his first five games.
On his predecessor’s return, De Zerbi said: “Graham Potter did a very good and very big job here and I have to say thanks for this team.
“But in football, you can know everything and you can lose the same.
“I have changed some things in this last month and we are able to play the right game.”
Potter has had better luck than De Zerbi since swapping the south coast for west London. The Blues have yet to lose a match, with six wins and three draws in nine games.
But De Zerbi believes that he is in a similar situation to Potter as they both learn more about their new squads.
He said: “In the Champions League (Chelsea won 2-1 at Salzburg on Tuesday) they played well.
“I also watched the games against Milan in London and Milan – and against Manchester United … 1-1 against Manchester United who played well.
“He has the same problem (as me) because he changed 40 days ago and maybe the beginning is always stronger.
“I am happy in terms of the performances but I can’t be 100 per cent happy because the results have not been good for us. But I follow my way, my idea – and the players believe in themselves.
“I want to win our first game … to change the moment. The moment is not bad but when the results are not good you are a bit sad.
“The quality of play, the individual skills we show have been very good but, of course, we need that first win.”
Brighton are waiting on news of Dutch defender Joel Veltman who picked up a calf injury in the 3-1 defeat at Manchester City last weekend.
But Kaoru Mitoma and Adam Lallana have bolstered De Zerbi’s options by returning to training this week after injuries.
