Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler has said his side are prepared to face ‘special’ Newcastle forward Alexander Isak this weekend.
The Seagulls head to the North East to take on Newcastle in the FA Cup’s fifth round on Sunday.
Isak is an injury doubt for the clash, having missed Newcastle’s defeat at Liverpool on Wednesday with a groin issue.
Speaking at his pre-match press conference, Hurzeler said his side can not afford to ‘gamble’ on Isak’s absence in their preparation. He called Isak, who has scored 21 goals in all competitions this season, a player ‘who can make the difference’.
“He [Isak] is a special player – a player who can make the difference. You can’t replace a player like this because not every team has two, three or four players of this quality.
“Therefore, it is a different game if he won’t play, but the thing is now we don’t know it, so we really have to prepare as if Isak will start. We have to prepare for his actions, for his behaviour and how we want to defend this together as a group.
“You can’t gamble and say he won’t play. I am sure they will try everything to make him fit for the game and we have to be ready for that.”
Speaking to the media on Friday morning, Newcastle boss Howe was confident his team could adjust in Isak’s absence.
“We recognise Alex [Isak’s] strengths and his abilities. I don’t think we are a one man team, I will never classify us in that bracket but Alex brings unique qualities in that centre-forward role, in that pivotal middle role that we need.
“We have other ways of playing and other players’ skill-sets to utilise. I thought there was a lot of good in our performance against Liverpool but we didn’t hurt them enough around their box for sure.”
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