By Chloe Reynolds (13/2/26)
Above: Brighton players before the West Ham fixture Photo: Brighton & Hove Albion FC
Brighton and Hove Albion interim head coach Chris Roberts previewed their upcoming game against Arsenal in the WSL, confirming that Fran Kirby remians sidelined and responding to Brighton’s horrible collapse against West Ham last week.
Roberts has admitted that he was disappointed after last week’s game against West Ham and conceding three goals in 10 minutes: “extremely disappointing, 80 minutes on the clock, we’re 2-0 up in fairly comfortable control of the game. We’ve had a couple of moments in the game where the game’s turned and of course, we’ve taken the learning from it. Extremely disappointing because it’s a results business, for 80 minutes, we were in in a great position, but ultimately lose the game. We analysed how we manage games; we’ve analysed the good and bad from the game and like every game, we need to take the learning from it into the next.”
Roberts also provided an injury update on the players “Fran (Kirby) is a little bit closer, but won’t make it in time for this weekend. Marit (Auee) is also a little bit closer, but this weekend will be just a little bit too soon for her as well. , Rosa Kafaji. She can’t play this weekend, obviously, being an Arsenal player. “
The Interim coach also shared when Dario Vidosic could return to the position “it was actually Rado’s funeral last night, a lovely send off for a really special man, it’s important that Dario and his family have time to process and to be there for each other in this moment. We’ve been part of that, a lot of us watched a funeral remotely, we actually had representation there from the club in Australia, which is which is really nice as well. We’ve just been there to support Dario at the moment.”
The coach also shared his thoughts on facing WSL giants Arsenal, who are currently the champions of Europe “I don’t know if there’s ever the right time to face a team like Arsenal, they’re an excellent team. They have got world class individuals, incredible depth, they can play a number of different teams in terms of starting players.”
“They’re very well coached. The fans that come with them bring a lot of energy. We have shown in previous games against them that not only can we compete, but we can take something from the game. Last year, we went 4-2 in an incredible game and then at the Emirates this year we caused them problems.”
“What we do know is when you play teams like Arsenal, you have to be at your absolute best, you need to ride the storm at times in the game and deal with big spells of pressure, but you have to be brave enough to play and you have to go into the game full of belief that you can get something from the game. That’s going to be really important this weekend.”
Roberts also shared how vital having Kiko Seike in the squad could be and the type of threat she provides: “Kiko hit the ground running, in her first game she scored a hat-trick against Everton last season. She’s got a real eye on goal, good finisher, presses well. she’s really been a top player for us. where we would like to continually work with her is the kind of the run that you’ve seen last week, that run from out wide to attacking more in central areas. We just want to try and get her into those parts of the pitch more often, even though she’s out in the wing.
Brighton and Hove Albion will face Arsenal at the Broadfield stadium on Sunday 15 Fubuary, with kick off is at 2:30pm.
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