Worrying fitness update for Brighton midfielder ahead of Wolves and West Ham

Brighton will once again be without their key midfielder as they look to secure their Premier League status at Wolves this Sunday
Adam Lallana is struggling with a calf injury ahead of this weekendAdam Lallana is struggling with a calf injury ahead of this weekend
Adam Lallana is struggling with a calf injury ahead of this weekend

Brighton will secure top flight survival with a win but even if Albion are defeated at Molineux, safety would still be assured should West Brom fail to win at Arsenal on Sunday evening and Fulham lose at home to Burnley on Monday.

Potter, whose side significantly eased relegation concerns by beating Leeds 2-0 last weekend, will however be without Adam Lallana.

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The 32-year-old injured his calf during the recent 1-0 loss at Sheffield United and missed last weekend's 2-0 victory against Leeds at the Amex.

Lallana was hoping to be ready for Wolves but Albion's next match against West Ham now seems more realistic for the former Liverpool man.

"The game will come a little soon," said Potter. "He's been out on the grass but it will be more likely West Ham for him."

Long term absentees Tariq Lamptey (hamstring), Solly March (knee) and Florin Andone (knee) remain unavailable.

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Wolves' Monday night draw with relegation-battling West Brom was a considerable improvement on the 4-0 home loss to Burnley which preceded it, but Nuno wants to see more on Sunday when they face a Brighton side whose own survival is all but assured.

With little left to play for this campaign, Nuno fielded a number of youngsters in Monday’s match – with 18-year-old striker Fabio Silva scoring his fourth Premier League goal – but would not be drawn on whether he wants to use the remaining four games to give fringe players more playing time.

“It is an opportunity for everybody as a squad,” he said. “We have four games to go that must be and should be very useful to us in terms of how we compete and how we approach the games.”

Joao Moutinho, 34, could feature at the weekend, having been out since mid-April with an ankle injury, but one player not yet ready to return is Willy Boly after concerns were raised over a higher than usual heart rate on his return from self-isolation.

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The 30-year-old contracted Covid-19 in early April, but though he returned to play against Sheffield United and Burnley, Boly was missing against West Brom while the situation was checked out.

“He’s much better,” said Nuno, who indicated Boly could face Tottenham next weekend. “He had problems with fatigue and he’s been infected. He’s getting better. He has been able to join part of the session.

“There was a lot of concern because we didn’t know what was happening but now we can be a bit more relaxed and aware that he needs a couple of days more to come back to total fitness.”