Brighton Head Coach, Fabian Hürzeler is delighted “to have the winning feeling back” following a 4-0 win at Norwich in the FA Cup’s Third Round.
Brighton headed to Carrow Road with a poor FA Cup record away to Norwich but Georginio Rutter’s brace plus goals from Julio Enciso and Solly March saw them breeze through to the fourth round without conceding.
Hürzeler consequently was pleased to see his Seagulls return to winning ways ahead of their Premier League trip to Ipswich on Thursday 16 January at 7:30pm GMT, having gone their last eight games without a win prior to the FA Cup victory.
“To have the winning feeling back is always important – that’s what I said to the guys afterwards. It gets the confidence back and hopefully we can bring it into the Premier League.”
March’s goal was his first goal in his second appearance since his return from a serious knee injury which had sidelined him for 14 months, with Hürzeler happy to see March back amongst the goals.
“Solly’s goal was a special moment. He’s back on the pitch and he’s a special character so we’re delighted for him. You can see what is means for him. I had some goosebumps when he scored and when the fans were cheering his name at the end.”
Hürzeler also urged caution about March’s progress given how long the midfielder had been out as he continued: “It’s not about forcing anything now, but doing things in the right moment. He is pushing hard to be back in every game so we need to get him back to his old shape.”
Brighton though were without a centre-forward due to Joao Pedro’s ankle injury but Hürzeler was pleased to see Rutter and Enciso step up to fill the gap.
“We don’t have a clear No9 with Joao injured so we had to be flexible and Georgie and Julio are flexible players who can also show their skill in the half space.
“You need goals, assists and good actions to develop. Georgie was very present in the opposition box and got into some good positions to score before he scored his two goals. Hopefully this will give him even more belief for the future.”
As is traditional in the FA Cup for top-flight teams to give academy players a run out, Brighton gave 19 year-old defender – Ruari McConville his senior debut, with Hürzeler pleased to see another academy player graduating into the senior squad.
“It’s the Brighton way to develop young players. They do a great job in the Academy and we have an unbelievable under-21 coach in Shannon Ruth.
“Ruairi is very mature for his age, a great personality and deserved to be in the squad. I’m happy he had his chance today and he took it impressively. It will be interesting to see how he develops.”
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