Brighton & Hove Albion head coach Roberto De Zerbi has revealed that Evan Ferguson could return from injury to face Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Saturday.
The 18-year-old striker sustained a knee issue in the Seagulls' FA Cup win over Liverpool on January 29 following a reckless challenge from Fabinho in the second half.
Ferguson missed the slender 1-0 league win over Bournemouth last weekend, but De Zerbi has since provided a positive update on the Irishman's condition, stating at a press conference on Friday that he "could play" at Selhurst Park.
De Zerbi has also revealed that Alexis Mac Allister will return to the side after serving a one-match suspension last time out, and the World Cup winner has received plenty of praise from his manager ahead of Sunday's contest.
"It will be great to have Alexis back, he will play tomorrow," De Zerbi added. "He's a very important player for us, it's excellent to have him available. We are happy to have him back."
In addition, the Italian boss has confirmed that defender Joel Veltman will play against Palace and has labelled the Dutch defender as one of Brighton's "most important" players.
"Joel Veltman will play tomorrow," said De Zerbi. "He is one of our most important players, but I have a lot of important players. Experience is an important quality but also his personality and attitude."
Veltman, who has spent the last two-and-a-half years at Brighton, has featured in 14 of Brighton's 18 matches across all competitions since the appointment of De Zerbi in October, including nine starts in the Premier League.
Two Seagulls players who will not be involved on Sunday are Levi Colwill and Adam Lallana who are still recovering from muscle injuries.
De Zerbi is now preparing for his first M23 derby as Brighton head coach and the 43-year-old has urged his team to embrace the rivalry on Sunday.
"I live for this game. It's an honour to play this game. We must play a bold game, aggressive game, but I don't want to lose our quality, our style of play," said De Zerbi.
"The first part of the season has been fantastic in terms of results, in terms of quality of play, and we have to continue in this way. But tomorrow is a different game.
"The emotions are the most important part of football and we have to feel the emotion in the football. But we have to be clear to the other things, to be focused on the game, on our quality, on our style of play, but we have to feel it's a different game.
"We want to beat them for sure. We want to make our fans happy. It will be a very important game for us. I love this kind of game, we are ready to play."
Brighton head to Selhurst Park in stellar form after winning six of their last nine Premier League games, a run which has helped them climb up to sixth in the table.
Victory for the Seagulls on Sunday could see them move to within two points of fifth-placed Tottenham Hotspur, who have played two games more than De Zerbi's men.
Elsewhere, the Premier League have confirmed that Brighton's rearranged fixture against Crystal Palace at the Amex Stadium will take place on March 16, following its postponement in September due to planned rail strikes. body check tags ::
