League Cup preview: Brighton v Man City

By: j | September 24th, 2008

A surging Man City visit Withdean Stadium to face the Brighton Seagulls today in League (”Carling”) Cup action today. After this weekends 6-0 romp over Portsmouth and given City has a tough schedule the next week that includes a delicate match against Wigan, a UEFA Cup tie at home and a massive test against Liverpool the following Sunday, I expect Mark Hughes to use this match wisely and give important playing time to those typically on the bench.

Mark Hughes commented:

“We’re tapping in to the goodwill from the weekend, it was a fantastic performance and everybody has come in to work with a smile on their face. It’s made my job a lot easier.

“We have enjoyed the moment but we have another game coming up on Wednesday which will be a difficult one. We don’t want to go to Brighton and get into a situation where we end up with egg on our face.

“I’m looking for us to get the job done professionally, Brighton have nothing to lose, and they will be looking to turn around their defeat at the weekend. We have to make sure that the interest generated by our performance on Sunday is not diluted by the game at Brighton.

“I will make changes to the team from Sunday, that’s only right and proper. I have a good squad and good players here, they need games but the team I pick will not be weakened substantially.”

Brighton & Hove are a solid mid-table League One club and will put forth a noble effort in front of their supporters but are likely without striker Nicky Forster for the match. City is without Mr. Martin Petrov, Nedum Onuoha and Robinho will miss the match due to personal reasons. Mark Hughes will likely had the start to Daniel Sturridge and Wales international Ched Evans up-front, Kasper Schmeichel at ‘keeper. I’m very hopeful the we’ll also see Felipe Caicedo in the mix and possibly one of the younger reserves, such as Ben Mee.

I will report on the match once it concludes.