Brighton's European qualification hopes are sinking fast as they look to bounce back after a 4-2 at Brentford last weekend. A top-eight finish and qualifying for next season's Conference League remains a realistic aim for the Seagulls but with so few games remaining this feels like a must win. Hurzeler first spoke on how his side must stay positive despite their poor form.
Brighton have to stay positive
"Staying positive, that's the main thing. The lads are training hard. They are trying to give their best. I think the main thing is to encourage them to do the things to push them, to give them the support because they really want to do it in some moments. We all know that. Sometimes it's unlucky. Sometimes you are one step too late. Sometimes you are not in a personal duel the way you want to be in a personal duel.
"So there are many things that are not going in our direction at the moment, but if you're going through a depressive phase, or if you're staying not positive, then I'm pretty sure that it doesn't help the young players.
"Everyone has an impact on this group. That's not only me, that's the fans, that's the staff members. They need to encourage them because they're trying hard to give their best on the pitch and beside the pitch. That's what I see daily. That's what I really can promise to everyone outside that this group has a special character and this group tries to give everything to get the turnaround."
Team news
Hurzeler then confirmed that defender Jan Paul van Hecke will miss Saturday's game after the Dutch defender suffered a head injury in their last match at Brentford.
"Not available (Jan Paul van Hecke). Everyone saw the foul, it was a tough one and therefore we have to be careful. We can't risk him to play this weekend but I'm sure we follow all the (concussion) protocols and he will be back next week."
He also confirmed that defender Joel Veltman "will be an option," and that star man Kaoru Mitoma is ready to start.
Joao Pedro's red card was unacceptable
Finally, he opened up on Joao Pedro's suspension and revealed that he has been told his red card at Brentford was unacceptable.
“We all know it is very frustrating. He immediately apologised. He knew that he did something wrong.
“Therefore we had a discussion with him, we said to him that we don’t accept things like this.
“Also Joao is a young player. He makes mistakes and hopefully he learnt from this mistake for his future.”