Sussex

Noel Sliney
BBC Sport senior journalist

Brighton & Hove Albion's first win in seven games last weekend, at the expense of Brentford, has given them a seven-point cushion over relegation-threatened Nottingham Forest. Albion last won consecutive games in November, when they beat Brentford and then Forest in the reverse fixtures.

Experience pays off

Those back-to-back victories three months ago put Brighton fifth in the table, just three points shy of Manchester City in second. They earned only their second win in 14 attempts since then with a surprise but deserved win at in-form Brentford, doing so with their oldest starting XI since September 2023.

Head coach Fabian Hurzeler, who turned 33 on Thursday, seemingly put faith in the adage 'with age comes wisdom' in a bid to end Albion's slump. Four players aged 34 or older formed the spine of a team with an average age of 28 years and 356 days, and Hurzeler admitted: "The only difference today was… we managed the key moments better. We had a lot of experienced players on the pitch who know how to do that."

It's a significant shift in approach from Hurzeler. The average age of the team across 2025-26 has been considerably lower at 26 years and four days, while last season's average of 25 years and 100 days was the second youngest in the division, behind Chelsea.

Welbeck nears career milestone

One of Brighton's most experienced players, Danny Welbeck, scored his first league goal of 2026 to double the team's lead at Brentford.

The 35-year-old now has nine Premier League goals this campaign, one short of his career-best tally from last season. Little wonder both Hurzeler and the club want to keep Welbeck beyond the expiry of his contract this summer.

Forest misfiring

Nottingham Forest have lost back-to-back games under Vitor Pereira, their fourth head coach of the season, though Thursday's Europa League play-off defeat by Fenerbahce didn't cost them victory in the two-legged tie on aggregate.

Pereira said he was "angry with football" after his side undeservedly lost to a 97th-minute goal by Liverpool last Sunday. Forest's first-half display in particular was excellent as they became the first side to have as many as 12 shots in the opening half of a league game against Liverpool since May 2015.

Scoring goals has been Nottingham Forest's issue all season, with a mere 7.1% of their shots finding the back of the net. Only bottom side Wolves have fared worse. The East Midlands side have scored 6.7 goals fewer than expected from the quality of chances they've had, the third biggest underperformance in the Premier League this season. Conversely, last season's overperformance of 11.5 was the highest in the division.

Over the previous two rounds of Premier League fixtures, Forest have created the most chances, had the most shots, the joint-second highest total of shots on target, third most touches in the opposition penalty area and accumulated an expected goals tally of 3.74 – but failed to score.

Brighton captain Lewis Dunk says his team aren't focusing on where they will finish the season, as they see out the campaign "game-by-game".

Brighton earned their first win of the month in their 2-0 victory over Brentford last week, and Dunk believes the team will be happy if they can keep that hunger going.

"I just want to see what we've seen in the last game," he told BBC Radio Sussex.

"The fight in us, the clean sheet, the way we defended, the hunger in us. I think if we've got that in us, then I think we'll be more than happy where we finish.

"People talk about targets and where we want to finish and Europe and this and that, and yes you can say it, but I don't get why we would. When really, we have to go game-by-game and that's how I look at football.

"Everyone would love to finish in Europe, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience, but it's the Premier League and the Premier League is not easy. I'm not going to sit here and say we want to be in Europe again, we'll just see where we end up."

You can listen to Dunk discuss the Seagulls and darts by hitting play above or listen here on BBC Sounds

Listen to full match commentary on Sunday of Brighton v Nottingham Forest on BBC Radio 5 Live from 13:55 GMT

Newcastle United are looking at Brighton's Netherlands goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen and Manchester City's English stopper James Trafford, both 23, as they target finding a long-term successor for England international Nick Pope, 33. (The i Newspaper - subscription required), external

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Katie Stafford
BBC Sport journalist

Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler has been speaking to the media before Sunday's Premier League game against Nottingham Forest at American Express Stadium (kick-off 14:00 GMT).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• There are "no new injury concerns which is quite positive going into the end of the season and final run".

• Yasin Ayari will return to first-team training today and if "everything goes well then he might be an option for the weekend".

• James Milner "needs a bit more recovery time" post-match than other players, but "he looked sharp again in the last two days on the training pitch" so is "definitely" an option for the Forest game.

• He said their squad depth is "crucial" for them and it's healthy because "there's competition to get into the squad and the starting 11".

• On the Brentford victory and what it means for their morale: "Wins create an energy and positive atmosphere. It puts the belief back into our quality, although we never lost it. It's an easier enjoyment when you come from a win, though."

• He said he has "spoken a lot about togetherness in recent weeks," but he felt that on Saturday among the players and fans. He added: "It felt great to have the support of the fans and then for us to give them what they deserve."

• On some of the negative reaction towards him: "I will never hide from criticism as it's my responsibility, but I am quite convinced it will be a great atmosphere [on Sunday] and a great opportunity for us."

• He said "it's up to us how we start this game" against Forest and "body language" plays a big role in overall confidence. Hurzeler added: "Good body has an impact to everyone. If we have good body language on the pitch and positivity then I am convinced it will transform into the stands and we can all take this opportunity to win this game."

• On Solly March and his road to recovery: "I've said we need to be patient with him. He needs game time to get back to his level but it's also about timing and not forcing it. He's getting closer and closer to the squad."

Listen to live commentary of Brighton vs Nottingham Forest on Radio 5 Sports Extra 2 from 14:00 GMT on Sunday.

Listen to Hurzeler on BBC Sounds

Eintracht Frankfurt's 22-year-old Germany defender Nnamdi Collins is the subject of interest from Arsenal, Liverpool,Manchester City, Newcastle, Brighton and Brentford.(Teamtalk), external

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