Brighton and Hove Albion look like facing a much-changed Wolverhampton Wanderers line up in their League Cup match at the Amex Stadium tomorrow evening (Wednesday 18 September).
Wolves head coach Gary O’Neil admits that he cannot afford to gamble with the fitness of key players in the Carabao Cup. And may field some youngsters in defence.
O’Neill spoke about the challenges faced by his side after a tough start to the Premier League season, having picked up only one point from the first four games – at Nottingham Forest.
Wolves have been beaten by Arsenal, Chelsea and Newcastle United and are due to take on the likes of Aston Villa, Liverpool and Manchester City by the end of next month.
As a result, O’Neill is likely to make significant changes for the cup tie at Falmer tomorrow to protect key players to try to boost Wolves’ league campaign.
He said: “It’s a game we want to win but a game we will probably need to make changes.
“There are certain areas in the squad we can’t afford to pick up injuries in: Daws (Craig Dawson) will be high risk for Wednesday. It would be tricky to put too much on Daws.
“Yerson (Mosquera) has some issues with his calf and we were slightly concerned about him going into the Newcastle game so it would be a big risk to put him out there.
“Toti (Gomes) will probably miss it with his hamstring issues. There are some decisions which need to be made but I’m not willing to risk really important players to us in key areas of the pitch with a big game coming up against Aston Villa.
“We could see young lads at centre-back at Brighton.”
The only match won by Wolves so far this season came in the second round at Molineux last month when they put two goals past Burnley without reply.
Albion, unbeaten so far this season, won 4-0 when they played Crawley Town at the Amex in the second round but even a depleted Wolves are expected to pose more of a threat.
Brighton will be without record signing Georginio Rutter. The £40 million forward is cup-tied, having played for Leeds United – as a sub – in their 3-0 first round defeat at home to Middlesbrough.
But Adam Webster, who scored against Crawley, is among those in the frame for a start tomorrow along with the likes of Pervis Estupinan, Igor Julio and Tariq Lamptey.
Seagulls boss Fabian Hürzeler could also play midfielder Mats Wieffer, who was injured in his debut at Everton, as well as new signings Ferdi Kadioglu and Brajan Gruda.
Matt O’Riley, injured minutes into his debut against Crawley, has had ankle surgery but remains out injured, with James Milner and Solly March also still on the sidelines.
The third round tie is due to kick off at 7.45pm tomorrow.
