Uefa Conference League: Brighton and Hive Albion vs Kauno Zalgiris at the Amex Stadium - Thursday, 7.45pm
Brighton have added midfielder Malick Yalcouye to the league phase of their Uefa Conference League squad.
The Ivory Coast international has impressed for Brighton this season and was a surprise omission from their initial squad to contest the league phase.
Yalcouye even started the Conference League play-offs matches as they enjoyed a two-leg 4-0 aggregate win against Norwegian club Tromso.
Head coach Fabian Hurzeler previously said, "It was a complicated situation," but the German clearly wanted Yalcouye as a midfield option.
Yalcouye, 20, has also featured in all six Premier League fixtures for Albion this term and starred in Brighton's Carabao Cup win at Manchester United. He has also scored twice this season with fine goals at Chelsea and Coventry.
Yohanna misses out
Brighton's £22m summer signing Zadok Yohanna has dropped out of the Uefa Conference League squad. Yohanna, featured from the bench in both games against Tromso and also made a late substitute appearance in the Premier League in the 4-0 win against Aston Villa.
The young Nigerian winger is struggling to reach full fitness following his arrival. It leaves Brighton a little short of options on the right flank as Yankuba Minteh remains sidelined with a leg injury.
Another summer arrival, Femi Azeez, is also out as he adapts to Brighton’s training methods following his arrival from millwall.
Hurzeler said Azeez and Yohanna are in a similar situation.
“No big issue,” Hurzeler said. “Some players need more time to adapt to the intensity, it's a little bit similar to Zadok [Yohanna].
“We try to give them the environment where they can adapt to our demands. To how we want to play and therefore these kind of players might need a little bit longer.
“But overall there's not a big issue. So it's just a thing of adapting and let's see how fast he will adapt and I'm sure he will make his first minutes for us quite soon.”