The Seagulls are hosting West Ham, who currently occupy seventh place in the Premier League standings. Regarding their injury issues, Hurzeler admitted the medical room is quite full.

He stated, "I don’t have positive news today. We need to further evaluate Stefanos (Tzimas), but at the moment it appears to be a long-term injury, so that’s another extended absence for us this season. We haven’t been very fortunate with injuries, but we will find solutions, and we wish Stefanos a speedy recovery and all the best. I’d say he will be out for months.

"I hope Yasin Ayari will be available. It’s uncertain for Sunday, but there is definitely a chance he can play.

"Kaoru Mitoma is still an option; we’ll see if he can train today. He returned to training but had a minor setback during the session, nothing serious, so hopefully he can train today and then we will try to make him available as soon as possible."

Revenge?

Hurzeler and Brighton will face West Ham’s manager Nuno for the first time since last season’s 7-0 loss to Nottingham Forest when Nuno was in charge.

However, the German coach insists there is no intention of revenge and that Sunday’s game is unrelated to last season’s events.

Hurzeler said, "Nuno’s teams are always tough opponents and that was definitely one of the worst defeats in my career so far, but I believe this is not about revenge, it’s not me against Nuno, it’s Brighton against West Ham.

"It’s a different squad, different tactics, different players, so the focus is really on our own team. I concentrate on my players, the preparation, maintaining high energy levels, and then we’ll see what happens."

Baleba’s progress

In summary, Hurzeler was asked about Carlos Baleba’s performance in the recent defeat to Aston Villa. The Cameroonian midfielder showed signs of returning to form after a challenging season so far.

Hurzeler himself has mentioned that Baleba has struggled following last summer’s uncertain transfer to Manchester United but was encouraged by his recent display.

He said, "Overall, I was pleased with his performance. I think he showed a positive reaction, even though he couldn’t play the full 90 minutes, there was clear progress. We can’t expect huge leaps during this phase of his career.

"We shouldn’t expect a magical performance like we saw from him last season. It’s about making small improvements now, doing the little things correctly, and eventually those small steps add up to a big one. It’s about continuing to push, getting physically and mentally back on track, and I definitely saw progress, so I was happy."