What Fabian Hurzeler said in his press conference

He covered a range of topics, including Evan Ferguson, the challenge posed by Saints and his views on safe standing.

Here is what said in the non-embargoed section of his press conference.

At times you've had quite a lengthy injury list this season. Have you got any players returning or any fresh injury worries for this game?

I already said that Lewis would be an option, he will be back in the squad.

Ferdi, we’re not sure if he will be available. We have to see day to day if he can train or not, then we have to make a decision. Tariq will be back, he will be back in the squad. And I think the rest will stay the same.

What about Southampton home game Friday night under the lights, a chance to go second in the league. What are you kind of expecting from this Southampton team?

We just have to watch the last game against Liverpool, how they played. I have followed them the whole season now and they have a great style of play. They have a lot of ball possession. We have to suffer a lot against the ball because they have the ability to outplay every opponent.

They have the individual quality with Armstrong, with Dibbling – one of the very good one against one situations. Now they added a target player. Let's see which striker will play. So they have different opportunities. They have different formations, what they played in the season so far. It's a challenge.

Every game is a challenge, so they could easily have won against Liverpool. This league is unpredictable. This league is so intense, so competitive, so there's no easy opponent in this league. And Southampton proved it last week. That's a warning for us to be ready for that game, to never underestimate anyone, to try to give more than 100 percent because you need it, especially in your pressing.

You need to be very, very good at pressing. You need to have the availability to suffer when you're outplayed, to sprint back. When you lose a duel, that you're sure that the teammate is there to help you. So I think this will be crucial against them to work hard against the ball and to have also the right mindset. When you need to run a lot, it's not easy all the time, but it might happen against a team like Southampton, with this ball possession and then you have to be ready for that.

Are you in a pretty, pretty good place, pretty confident place, certainly from an attacking point of view at the moment, especially thinking the likes of Joao Pedro back after his earlier fitness problems in the season and Danny Welbeck having the best start to his career. Are you quite confident in those attacking areas at the moment?

Offensively we always have the ability and the quality to score goals, because we have a big squad, especially when we see our offensive players. We have different types of players. We have Evan, a target player.

We have Joao, we have Danny, who is for me a hybrid player. We have on the wings different opportunities with Kaoru, with Simon, with Minteh, Solly March when he comes back, Gruda, Georginio. So there are a lot of opportunities and this gives us a great selection where I can choose and this gives us also a competition between each other.

They need to be ready to work hard for their place. They need to be ready to make sure that they deserve to play. At the moment they have proven that they are able to score in every situation of the game. And that's also what we need to win games. But in the end I always judge them by how they work against the ball and how they defend, how their mindset is, especially in defending against the ball and that's the way I judge them. But of course in the end, I know that goals and assists make us win the games.

I know you don't like to get too carried away with looking forward and objectives and things like that But when you think of Aston Villa qualifying for the Champions League last season, do you think the start to the season with these players can give them the confidence that okay? Give them the belief they are capable of achieving something special this season.

For me, in general in life, not only football, it's so important to have a clear target, a vision of where you want to go. This vision makes you promise to yourself to never to give up and this vision gives you an orientation for what you do with the work. That's the first thing. The second thin is the momentum – where we are at the moment. It's still early in the season, but this momentum should give the players a confirmation for their work, so if they work hard, if they try to improve every day, if they come to the training ground and be the best version of themselves.

Every day and doing this consistently, not only two weeks or three weeks, doing this consistently, then they see that they can get the results. And they have worked hard so far, and that's why they deserve to get these results. But now it's about continuing this work ethic. Continuing improving the small details.

If we're honest, against Bournemouth we had a little bit of luck, but we worked hard for this. We could play better, we know this. We also said this to the team, that it wasn't our best game in possession, but if you work hard against the ball, then you deserve to win these games.

You have to keep improving, you have to keep developing this, and you have to keep focused on the process, not focused on the results. If you focus now on the results and say, wow, we on the top of the table, it won't work. You have to keep focusing on the process. You have to keep focusing on the performances and then long term the results will come.

And I will say it now when it's going good with the results, but I also will say it when it's negative with the results because that's my biggest belief. I am convinced that when you think like this, when you act like this, then you get what you deserve long term.

Carlos’s red card last week. You can't appeal it. Have you had any more thoughts on that, because that was the first red you've had to a player since you've been at the club?

What should I say to the player? He didn't make a mistake with the second yellow card, because like I said immediately after the game, it's not a second yellow card. On the other side, I also reflect myself – maybe I have to react earlier. Maybe I have to say, all right, he's still a young player. We need to protect him. We need to take him out of the game to make sure that he's available for the next game. So it's also learning from my side what is very important. But in the end it was a false decision and false decisions happen in life. So we have to accept it and we have to keep going.

We have to talk with the players, maybe how to behave in a more clever way, because in the end, the most clever player was I think Kerkez, who made a big thing out of it and who made this foul or not a foul and makes this action a yellow card. So there we have to learn from these moments. It's also part of game management and there we work with Carlos and we need to give him the right support and the right advice and then we keep going on.

Earlier this week Julio Enciso played for the under 21s. Did you watch him and what's he got to do to get back in your thinking to be back in your starting XI in the Premier League?

I watched him. First of all I think it's a great thing when a player came by his own to me and ask me if he can play for the under-21s to stay in the rhythm. That's a great signal and a great thing that he wants to improve, no matter in which team. So now he played for the under-21s, but he's also a very important player for us.

It's a little bit the same with Evan. They're doing good in training, they're in good shape mentally, physically. They both scored for their national team, so they are in great shape. But the others are also in great shape. Danny is in great shape. João comes back strong. Georgi is in good shape.

So it's competition. Competition is part of the business, you need to make sure that you're ready when you get the chance, you need to make sure that you try to give everything in training to not let you down, to not get yourself in a bad place. So when there is the opportunity, and I'm sure there will be an opportunity next week because we have a lot of games, to make sure that you're ready for this opportunity.

In terms of Southampton, they play attractive football in parts, but have been kind of criticised along with the manager. Russell Martin for how they played. Do you think he's right to continue with that playing style that he had in the Championship to take into the Premier League?

I think that's not my topic. I think everyone or every coach has his own principles and his own ideas and I have my ideas. Russell Martin has his ideas and I don't want to talk about the ideas from other coaches. I think he knows what he's doing, he was very successful by getting in the Premier League – big success and I think it's not easy. Especially when I see now the Championship and I follow the Championship a little bit because there were two German coaches, unfortunately only one is left now. I follow it and then I see how tough the Championship is and it's a great achievement to get promoted for the Premier League. He was very successful and now he follows his ideas, so it's not up to me to comment on that.

If you win tomorrow night, and I know you've mentioned it already, you do go up to second. If you go second and you look back at the Premier League table, does that even surprise yourself as to where you've got Brighton so far?

Honestly, I don't watch at the table. Believe it or not I try to focus on the performance. It's a repetition from my side, but it's truly my belief that we have to focus on the performance. We have to keep going, we can't watch the table. It's important to see what happens at the end of the season, where we are in the table. It's still early in the season and of course it's a confirmation for the players and also for the staff they are all into it. They buy into it. They all have an impact on the success and I think it's important for them to see this, that their hard work is leading to results. This confirmation is important for themselves. I only focus on the next game, I only focus on the next day and how can we improve, how can we be the best prepared team and that's what I try to focus on.

Now we have a big challenge against Southampton, they played a great game against Liverpool, they almost got a draw or maybe even a victory against them and this says everything. So we should focus on this game and then after the game we can talk about where we are in the table, but first of all, let's play this game.

This week it's been widely reported that a loan option for Evan Ferguson away from the club may be a possibility. Do you have any thoughts on him, Julio, or even loaning out players that period in the season?

I don't where this information has come from because I said to Evan that I'm happy that he's here in the team, that I'm happy with how how he's training, in the shape he is physically and mentally.

He's a young player and he needs game time. But the best example is Igor. Nobody expected Igor to play this many games in this phase of the game. Igor always made himself sure that he's ready for the games. That when he gets the chance, that he uses it.

He was always there in training. He always trained hard and he never complained. He accepted his role. And then when he got the chance, he was there. And that's the same thing what I demand from the other players. So, accept your role, don't complain, you can be disappointed if you're not playing. I always was disappointed when I didn't play as a player.

It's normal, it should be like this. But accept your role and make sure that you bring yourself in a mood and in the shape that when you get the chance that you're ready. That’s exactly what I demand from Evan and that's also what I said to him and I never said anything about a loan or something like this.

We are happy that Evan is here and I'm sure he can help us in the next week.

One player I just wanted to ask you about was Joel Veltman. He's not the most glamorous of players, but he is probably one of the most consistent performers for the club, not just this season, but previously.

I think he’s one of the most underestimated players in the league. He knows what to do to win games. He knows how to be positioned to win personal duels. He knows how to give the team a clear structure, a good balance, and I think that's crucial for a team like us. He brings us the right balance with his experience, with his age also, and that's why he's so important for us at the moment. We're happy to have him.

Have you got any thoughts on safe standing or whether it creates a better atmosphere or any experiences that you have had previously?

It's interesting, it's also a good feeling that the Premier League adapts a little bit to the German league! So that's something new. I think it's a great thing because I experienced a lot.

There are great atmospheres in the Bundesliga and in the German stadiums. It's normal that some people are standing. It's especially normal in my former club in, in St. Pauli, I experienced this. I don't know if it's because they're standing or not. I can't say it, but it’s great support, very loud support, very emotional support. I don't know if it's like because you stand and when you stand, you do more movement and you're just more active in the game instead of just sitting and watching. But maybe it's a thing and it's great that we do it. I really love it. And I really love also that we are open to new things.

This club shows that they are open to new things. They do things in a different way. They like to make decisions like no one did before. And that's something that I really appreciate. That's also my thinking, my mindset. Maybe in two, three years, we are sitting here and the whole stadium is standing and that was just the starting point. Let's see how this develops.

And Southampton, with their very distinctive style of play. Does that present maybe a different challenge that you've had this season? Cause it is very individual the way they invite teams to come forward and press out the pitch.

Yeah, it's a different style of play. It's a confirmation for me also that there are several coaches with tactical variety, with a big knowledge of football, and it's again another challenge for us to prepare for. It will be a different approach. This team they have a lot of ball possession. I think they're fourth in the table regarding ball possession and it will be crucial to have a good pressing pattern.

It will be crucial to work well against the ball and that we can also prove ourselves, how far we are, especially in how ruthless we are to work against the ball and how, how far we can go, especially also for our mindset. That's it. I hope we're ready to suffer against the ball because in some moments we will suffer and this will be a really interesting game to see how far we are especially regarding out of possession.