What Fabian Huerzeler said in Brighton v Tottenham press conference

He gave injury updates, looked back at defeat by Chelsea and examined the threat posed by Spurs.

The head coach also gave some insight into the progress he sees from Georginio Rutter and revealed misgivings about his fitness when he arrived from Leeds.

And he explained why the Seagulls can beat any team in the division.

This what he told the media in the non-embargoed section of his press conference.

Injury news

The positive things are Brajan Gruda and Solly March trained really well this week, they might be an option for the weekend.

The others, the long-term injuries with Matt O’Riley, Joao Pedro, JP (van Hecke).

James Milner is also an option for this weekend.

There is positive and negative news but in general we see it more positive that the players come back.

Chelsea reflections

I think it is very important after defeat that you're honest to yourself, that you reflect what was good and what was not good in this game.

If you lose there are more negative points, and we discussed with the team about that and we're trying to find solutions and to show a reaction as a team on Sunday.

But there were also some positive things, I think, especially in possession.

Chelsea scored four goals, we also had chance to score four goals.

In the end, we have to learn from it. I have to learn from it because I was the responsible person for this match plan and the match plan was not good enough. Therefore, I also have to learn from it and now we try to show a reaction.

What do you know about Ange Postecoglou?

I respect him a lot. The identity of Tottenham and the style of play is impressive, but also as a person. He's a very humble, very polite person and I'm really looking forward to meeting him and competing against him.

How long do you expect be without van Hecke?

I don't know. I think we have to go week for week. I think it is not bad as, for example, the issue with Joao but let’s see and go week for week.

A positive from Chelsea was Georginio Rutter got his first goal…

I think he also showed before that goal good performances. He’s a guy who doesn't need goals to believe in himself and I think he has had a great impact, a great start to his new club. He's a very humble person, he tries to work hard. His shape when he arrived was not the best but now, through the training sessions, he has got fitter and fitter and we are very happy to have him in our squad.

How is Matt O’Riley progressing?

Good. He is very positive and he’s making small steps forward and I think that's very important when you have a bad injury. He’s sticking to the plan after his surgery. He's doing his rehab and we're looking forward to seeing him back on the pitch.

How do you expect to get past Tottenham?

We have to defend better than against Chelsea, I think that’s the main thing. But it’s also about being brave in possession. In possession we made a good game against Chelsea and we have to continue doing this, being brave with the ball, trying to bring our identity on the pitch. Of course they have great individual players, they have players who can make the difference in one situation of the game so we have to pay attention all the time, we have to work for the momentum and then when we have the momentum we have to keep it and use it for 90 minutes and this will be the goal.

Dominic Solanke is back in the England squad. Are you facing a different kind of player there?

I can only say something about his performances in the last games. I think he's a whole package of a good striker. He is very good in possession. He's very good in making movements in the opponents' box. He knows how to get away from an opponent. He knows how to move against the opponent when he gets defended in a one against one situation. And on top of that he works also hard against the ball. He’s the first attacker for them and he tries to lead the opponent to one side. He tries to put pressure on our defenders, and I think it will be a big challenge to stop him.

I know he's a player that you wanted to keep at the club, but how happy will you be on Sunday to welcome back Pascal Gross for his send-off from the fans?

I would enjoy it more if he was wearing the Seagulls colours! But Pascal is a great character.

He's a great player. I think you can already see his impact at Borussia Dortmund, how good he is, and I'm very happy to welcome him here to his old home, and I think all the players are looking forward to seeing him and it's up to us to make him a good present, a welcome present again with hopefully a victory.

People talk about Pascal being a great professional. What sort of similarities does he have with James Milner? How much of a boost will it be to have him back involved with the squad?

He’s great leader which is always important for a squad.

He’s also a great communicator and that is very important for our young squad, that we have players who communicate on the pitch, who are helpful on the pitch, who bring their knowledge into the squad, and I think we can all learn from his knowledge, we can all profit for his knowledge and that's why we're very happy to have him back in training and in the squad.

Updates on Adingra and Veltman…

I think (with) Simon we have to be careful. Joel will be back. With Simon we have to look at how it is going and then make a decision.

Do you have any concerns over the amount of football that players are having to play? You don't have Europe this season, but how do you see the situation?

We are not part of it, and we can't say anything about it because we're not suffering from the schedule.

We had now a good training week. We can use this training week and I think we should see it more as an advantage for us.

But I can completely understand the clubs and the players who are complaining about their playing schedule because, in the end, we experience also how tough it is to play two games every three days so in the end of course I agree the health from the players has to be the most important and we should take care of them.

You mentioned about being better in possession, you’ve had over 60 per cent possession so far in games. Are you happy with that figure?

I'm a coach who likes his team to be dominant and who likes to have the ball because when you have the ball you can create something.

Of course you must be aware of transition moments, especially in the Premier League. With the ball you can build your ideas in possession. But again it doesn’t tell the whole story. I think it's important to find a balance when to have ball possession, when to have defensive stability. I think these numbers show we are able to beat every team in this league, to compete with every team. I didn’t feel we were much worse than Chelsea. I think this gives us confidence and clarity that if we are on point, and we have to be on point, and if we are on our limits, and we have to be on our limits, we can compete with every team in the league.

Do you see similarities between your style and Ange’s style at Spurs?

There might be some elements that are similar, yes, but I think Ange Postecoglu proved it over one year now and we are at the beginning of our journey. I think in some moments we are a little naive. We have to defend better, not to concede that many goals. I think it is also a priority for us to defend as a whole team. We are talking a lot about the high line. For me, it is not a high line, it is more like an active line but how do we get to these moments? It is also a responsibility for the offensive player to defend the lines, that opponents can’t break the lines that easily, that their players can play a ball behind our line. So it is always a togetherness how we defend. We have to improve in these situations ad it is not only a thing about the high line.