Hughton pain over Pascal

PASCAL GROSS will miss Brighton’s crucial relegation clash with Huddersfield tomorrow.

And Albion boss Chris Hughton faces an anxious wait before discovering how much of his side’s survival scrap the influential midfielder will miss in total.

Gross injured his hamstring in the midweek defeat at Leicester that deepened the Seagulls’ relegation fears. Hughton’s side face bottom club Huddersfield at the Amex Stadium, just two points above the drop zone and without a league win since the turn of the year. The loss of the German midfielder could not have come at a worse time and Hughton said: “We’ll know over the next couple of days – certainly Saturday is too early for him.

“We don’t think it’s too bad, the positioning of the hamstring injury.

“We know it’s not a real bad one because that can keep you out for anything from six weeks upwards.”

Brighton will be boosted by the return of forward Florin Andone after serving a three-match ban for elbowing West Brom’s Sam Field.

Hughton believes his side now need to hold their nerve.

He said: “I have to be concerned because the league table speaks for itself and the form, as regards points, speaks for itself.

“It’s a difficult period for us but it’s a time where you need to hold your nerve. We have home games against the teams that are around us and there isn’t anybody here that won’t be positive about performances.”

Huddersfield manager Jan Siewert hopes he has found a recipe for success.

At the fifth time of asking, the Terriers boss finally tasted victory as Steve Mounie’s last-minute goal was enough to beat Wolves on Tuesday.

It ended a dire run of one point from 14 games, although his side remain rooted to the bottom of the table, 13 points from safety.

“Goals are the salt in the soup,” he said. “If the soup is good, it means there must be salt in it.

“Without a goal, you can’t win the game. So we are all trying to be good chefs.”