Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler says his side will be fully focused on trying to win the FA Cup this season – starting against Newcastle on Sunday.
The Seagulls have finished ninth and sixth in the past two seasons and currently lie in eighth place in the Premier League, just four points off the top four.
But they are yet to win a major honour, losing the FA Cup final in a replay to Manchester United in 1983, and Hurzeler says bringing success has to be a priority.
Find out how to watch the #EmiratesFACup fifth round and beyond via our global broadcast partners 📺👇
— Emirates FA Cup (@EmiratesFACup) February 27, 2025
He said: “First of all, that’s my job. I always try to give everything for the club and, of course, I always want the club to be the most successful we can be.
“That’s my job, together with the staff and players, and therefore we try that.
“We promise everyone that we will try to give everything on the pitch and beside the pitch to make them proud, but we can’t promise to win a title.
That’s the thing that we to work on and the thing we try to do in our daily behaviour and then we will see what will come in the future.”
Brighton head into Sunday’s game in good form with four wins in a row after the 7-0 thrashing at Nottingham Forest at the start of February.
Newcastle struggled in midweek without talismanic striker Alexander Isak but Hurzeler says his side will prepare as if the Swede will be fit.
Eddie Howe on Alex Isak:
"I haven’t seen him since the game, we don’t think it is a long-term problem, but there was no risk taken on Wednesday and there can’t be at this stage of the season. We will see how he is today and have a discussion with him, if he is fit, he will… pic.twitter.com/xc06TIxqZF
— Newcastle United (@NUFC) February 28, 2025
He said: “He [Isak] is a special player – a player who can make the difference. You can’t replace a player like this because not every team has two, three or four players of this quality.
“Therefore, it is a different game if he won’t play, but the thing is now we don’t know it, so we really have to prepare as if Isak will start. We have to prepare for his actions, for his behaviour and how we want to defend this together as a group.
“You can’t gamble and say he won’t play. I am sure they will try everything to make him fit for the game and we have to be ready for that.”
