Brighton manager Graham Potter has issued an optimistic injury update on Adam Webster, who was substituted in the first half of their goalless draw at Leicester on Tuesday.
The defender went off with a hamstring problem at the King Power Stadium but his manager is confident that the 25-year-old will be able to feature against Manchester United next week.
As per The Argus, Potter said of Webster’s injury withdrawal: “He just felt his hamstring. We are hoping he is not too bad but he had to come off. It was precautionary. It didn’t make sense to stay on.”
Webster had been enjoying a positive return to action when the Premier League resumed last week, giving a strong performance in the 2-1 win over Arsenal in which he won two tackles and made six clearances, as per WhoScored.
He was replaced by Shane Duffy in the draw at Leicester and the Irishman gave a competent display off the bench, with two successful aerial duels, one successful tackle and five clearances against Brendan Rodgers’ side (as per WhoScored).
Webster has generally been preferred to the 28-year-old as Lewis Dunk’s centre-back partner this season, although the two have broadly similar performance metrics so far in 2019/20. The ex-Bristol City man has a better passing success rate (83.7% to 79.6%) and has averaged more interceptions per game (1.5 to 1.3).
However, Duffy has won more tackles per game (1.1 to one) and also has a better match average for successful aerial duels (4.1 to 3.5).
Potter’s hopeful update on Webster should come as a relief to Brighton fans, given that the Seagulls have just three senior centre-backs, while the 25-year-old had looked impressive in the win over Arsenal.
[freshpress-poll id=”306330″]
At least the manager has the comfort of knowing that, if the ex-Bristol City defender doesn’t recover in time to face Manchester United next Tuesday, he has an equally capable replacement in Duffy to call upon.
Brighton fans, are you confident that Webster will be available for the Man United game next week? Comment below with your views!
