Brighton & Hove Albion defender, Leon Aderemi Balogun is facing a return to The Seagulls’ bench this weekend, as the club’s preferred central defence pairing is set to be back in full sway.
Balogun has excelled in central defender across the past three matches, but footballlive.ng gathered that was due to the absences of Shane Duffy and Lewis Dunk at various points in recent weeks.
However, Balogun could get the chop this weekend against Everton, as Dunk is back after serving a game’s ban, while Duffy is also available for the fixture at Amex Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Ironically, during Balogun’s time on the pitch, Brighton have gone four English Premier League matches without a victory.
OPundits blamed it on Brighton manager, Chris Hughton’s inability to select his preferred centre-back partnership of England international Dunk and Duffy during that period because of suspensions.
Their poor run has left them 13th in the Premier League table ahead of their game against Everton on Saturday, but Hughton is satisfied with 22 points from their opening 19 games.
Rather than get worried over their struggles, Hughton says his team have no fear and need not panic – despite going four games without a win.
Much to his delight, and with Balogun playing at his best, The Seagulls picked up their first point since December 4 when they drew 1-1 with Arsenal on Wednesday.
Hughton declared: “You can lose ground in the table and you gain ground in the table over a very short period of time.
“Nothing in this division is a surprise for us. We are going into very difficult games every game.
“We are still learning as a club and we are still very much learning as a team, and every game is an opportunity.
“The most important thing is they are all available. We are going through a series of games now in a short period of time.
“It’s about having everybody available. We have options at centre-half which is important for us.”
