Danny Welbeck has been named as skipper for the visit of Brentford to the Amex Stadium this afternoon (Saturday 22 November).
Georginio Rutter is down to tuck in behind him, flanked by Yankuba Minteh and Diego Gomez, with Carlos Baleba and Yasin Ayari in support.
Jan Paul van Hecke and Olivier Boscagli are at the heart of the defence with Mats Wieffer and Ferdi Kadioglu in front of Bart Verbruggen in goal.
Jack Hinshelwood and Brajan Gruda have recovered from injury and both are back on the bench this afternoon, along with club captain Lewis Dunk and Joel Veltman.
Reserve keeper Jason Steele has also been named as a sub along with Stefanos Tzimas, Charalampos Kostoulas, Diego Coppola and Maxim De Cuyper.
Albion head coach Fabian Hürzeler gave updates on his injured players, saying: “Solly March is getting really close. It’s only a question of two or three weeks maybe until we see him back.
“This will be exciting for me, for us, for him, to see him back in our group. He’s been out for a long time and we are all looking forward to having him back. Brajan Gruda is also an option.
“We still have Adam Webster and James Milner who will be out. James is out for the next two or three weeks. Adam is long term.
“With Kaoru (Mitoma), it’s not an easy thing to predict. In the last international break, I said it’s just a question of two or three weeks. But now he’s getting close.
“He has to handle the pain so it’s not a big issue. Everything is healed so he should be fine. We just have to see how he can handle the pain. When he will be back? I’m sure that it won’t take that long.”
Tom Watson is also out with an injury.
At the pre-match press conference, Hürzeler was asked what he was most proud of as he prepared for his 50th Premier League match as manager of Brighton.
He said: “I always emphasise that being the head coach of Brighton and Hove Albion is a privilege. I’m really proud to be head coach.
“I’m really proud to work with really good staff members, with really good experts that drive really good culture.
“I’m really privileged that I work with great leaders, with players who have great personalities, with a great group that really drives the togetherness, who tries to get better every day, no matter the circumstance, no matter how many adversities they face, they always try to stick together.
“What I really love is to see a team developing, to see an individual developing, to see how they get the potential out of themselves through an intrinsic motivation.
“I always emphasise that this club is special. This club has a great identity. Identity is the most important thing to keep on driving.
“We try to keep on working hard because on the one side we are known for great values but on the other side we want to be known for success.
“That’s really what we live for, what we work for and we have to keep pushing to achieve it.”
Hürzeler was asked about Albion’s impressive track record at the Amex, with among the fewest home defeats of any top-flight club and just three in the league since he took charge.
He said: “It’s really difficult to beat us at our stadium, together with the fans. That’s what I said from the beginning – that it’s our fortress, our castle.
“We have to make it really difficult for every opponent who come to the Amex. That’s what we always have to do.
“I always emphasise it’s about us bringing the energy and the intensity on the pitch, that this energy flows to the stands and then it builds the togetherness we have in the stadium.
“I’m quite happy how far we are regarding this development but we have to keep pushing it. We can’t be satisfied.
“We always have to understand that it’s a lot of work we have to put into the games. A lot of energy, a lot of intensity. And that’s always the basic thing.
“From the first second we have to be intense, work hard, to outwork and outrun the opponent. And then together with our fans, we can be very, very strong at home. That’s what we have to keep doing.”
Albion face a side with a reputation for exploiting set-pieces and long throws, with the club’s set-piece coach Keith Andrews taking over as head coach when Thomas Frank left for Tottenham Hotspur.
Andrews is also a former Albion loan player – and he admitted that it had been a “tough week” after learning that Fabio Carvalho will miss the rest of the season with a serious knee injury.
Andrews said that the Portuguese midfielder, who has made 33 appearances for the Bees since joining from Liverpool in August last year, sustained an anterior cruciate ligament injury in training last week.
Andrews said: “It’s been a tough week for obvious reasons. It’s devastating for him. I feel for him. He’s someone who I have a lot of respect for as a man.
“This season he’s not been given as many opportunities as I ideally would have liked. He knows that.
“Fabio knows he’ll get support from everybody at the football club during this difficult period.”
Igor Thiago took his tally this season to nine goals in 12 appearances with a brace in the 3-1 win over Newcastle before the international break, bolstering his hopes of a call-up for Brazil.
Andrews added: “He’s so important for us and the way we play. He’s constantly developing and he’s clearly very ambitious and patriotic.
“He would love to don the Brazilian jersey. It’s a huge ambition of his. We will help him as much as we can to hopefully achieve that.”
But Andrews also noted that, along with the injured Carvalho, the Bees will also be without Josh Dasilva and Antoni Milambo this afternoon.
