The Brighton and Hove Albion manager and the former Chelsea midfielder Gus Poyet has revealed that the return of Wayne Bridge from the sidelines will substantially reduce the injury headache he has been facing in the last few weeks.
Brighton has suffered a lot in terms of injuries in recent weeks, which has also coincided with a poor run of form for the Championship club. They have just one victory in the last five matches, which has allowed them to slip out of the play-offs position. Getting promotion to the top flight is one of the main priorities for Gus Poyet this season.
He has said that the return of the Manchester City defender Wayne Bridge will be a major boost when it comes to team selection. The 32-year-old defender is currently on a season long loan deal from the Premier league champions. However, he has missed the last four matches due to an injury. However, Poyet has said that he could be back for the match against Charlton Athletic during the weekend. This is an absolutely must win game for Brighton if they are to keep any hope of challenging for the play-offs position come the end of season.
Despite this boost, Poyet has revealed that players like Adam El-Abd and Marcos Painter still continue to remain on the sidelines. “Wayne Bridge and Adam El-Abd were not ready (for the weekend’s loss to Crystal Palace) so I could not play them, then when we needed a little help from Orlandi he had to go off injured. We think he has broken his rib. Wayne has the best chance of being ready for Saturday so we need to hope that the medical staff can produce something special this week,” said Gus Poyet, whose team are in the ninth position in the table.