Brighton & Hove Albion head coach Roberto De Zerbi has said that he will make a late call on the fitness of forward Joao Pedro before naming his team for Saturday’s Premier League clash against Crystal Palace.

 

Pedro, who joined the club from Watford in the summer and set a club record, is Brighton’s leading scorer overall this year with 18 goals in 31 games.

But in Tuesday’s crushing 4-0 loss to Luton Town, the Brazilian was unable to add to his goal total and was substituted off the field with a knee injury he suffered while trying to win the ball back halfway through the second half.

 

After the match, De Zerbi said that Pedro’s injury “was caused by frustration,” but he expressed optimism that the forward’s problem is not severe.

James Milner, on the other hand, was taken off the field during the first 20 minutes of Luton’s loss and was later seen walking out of Kenilworth Road with a leg brace.

At a news conference on Friday, De Zerbi stated that Milner would be out of Brighton’s Saturday home match against M23 rivals Crystal Palace and might be out for an extended amount of time. Pedro, on the other hand, may play against the Eagles.

 

 

 

“James Milner can’t play and I don’t know when he can play, but not for three, four games,” De Zerbi said. “Tomorrow we decide about Joao [Pedro].”

Another prominent Seagulls player, Pervis Estupinan, was substituted out of the match against Luton because of an injury, but De Zerbi has stated that the left-back “is okay” to play on Saturday.

Joel Veltman, the defender, is getting closer to making a comeback after missing most of December due to a knee injury.

Joel Veltman remains absent. He’s extremely close, but I’m not sure how many more days he needs,” De Zerbi stated.