Brighton and Hove Albion manager Roberto De Zerbi anticipates the absence of wingers Kaoru Mitoma and Simon Adingra for a duration of four to six weeks, adding to the list of injuries his squad has faced.
Mitoma sustained an ankle injury during last week’s 1-1 draw against Crystal Palace, while Adingra suffered a hamstring strain at Selhurst Park. Both players are part of the group of up to 10 Seagulls players expected to be unavailable for Thursday’s match against Premier League strong contenders Tottenham Hotspur at home.
“Tomorrow we have more or less 10 injured players, maybe eight but (the other) two players can’t start the game,” Brighton boss De Zerbi told a pre-match press conference on Wednesday.
“Mitoma is one of them. We lost Kaoru for around six weeks — four, five, six weeks. Adingra, I think he needs four, five weeks (recovery). Tomorrow, no Mitoma, no Adingra.”
Japan’s national team player Mitoma faces uncertainty regarding his participation in the upcoming Asian Cup, set to commence on January 12. Meanwhile, the involvement of Ivory Coast striker Adingra in the Africa Cup of Nations, beginning the next day, remains uncertain.
Brighton, positioned impressively in ninth place in the table, will be missing Ansu Fati, Tariq Lamptey, Adam Webster, Solly March, Julio Enciso, and Joel Veltman for the match against Spurs. Additionally, midfielder Adam Lallana might only be fit for a substitute appearance.
De Zerbi suspects that Albion’s engagement in the Europa League might have contributed to their injury setbacks. However, he acknowledges that other Premier League managers, including Spurs’ Ange Postecoglou, have encountered similar injury challenges.
“This season, a lot of injuries were unlucky because March, Pervis Estupinan, Enciso and Mitoma, they are not muscular injuries,” said De Zerbi. “We are paying maybe for playing every week three times.”
The Italian added: “I would like to play with the complete squad but Tottenham played a lot of games without seven, eight players and I never heard Postecoglou cry. It’s football and we have to accept it.
“I think we can compete in the same way. Maybe on the bench we have not the same quality with a complete squad but we have maybe more energy with the young players.”
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