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Brighton head coach Fabian Hurzeler said he will not concern himself with results elsewhere as he prepares to face Europa League winners Tottenham Hotspur.
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The Seagulls still have a chance to get European football next season if they finish eighth, and hope that Chelsea drop out of the top six with a defeat at Nottingham Forest – before winning the UEFA Conference League final.
Eighth would also be enough if Carabao Cup winners Newcastle finish seventh and Chelsea finish sixth – whilst also beating Real Betis on Wednesday (May 28).
Brighton will be hoping for another taste of European football next season after Roberto De Zerbi guided the Seagulls into the Europa League.
On the preparations for the Spurs game, he said: “The only thing we can influence is our result and our preparation for the game and that’s what we try to do. The other results we can’t influence, we try to focus on us.
“We are fully focused. We always emphasise that we can only be successful as a group when we feel this togetherness, when we have this togetherness on and beside the pitch. That’s what we really try to emphasize every day.”
Tottenham edged out Manchester United 1-0 in the Europa League final on Wednesday, qualifying them for the Champions League next season despite being 17th in the league.
There were wild celebrations from the players after that win, with Hurzeler not focusing on what Spurs have done, with him only focusing on his team.
He said: “They played the final. I think both teams felt a lot of pressure and in the end, Tottenham won. They played very maturely. They scored one goal and that’s why they deserved to win.
“We don’t know. I think that’s one of the questions I was asked most in the last few hours, but my answer will be always the same.
"I can’t influence how they celebrate or how they will prepare for the game. The only things I can influence are how we prepare our team, and we will try to be the best prepared team we can be. That’s what our focus is on.”
There could be a party atmosphere at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium after Ange Postecoglou’s side achieved the club’s first trophy since 2008.
Hurzeler said: “That’s why we don’t know what we will face there. We don’t know how the atmosphere will be. We don’t know which team we will face and which mood they are in. They’re all factors and things we can’t influence.
“The only thing we can do is make sure that we have a good training session, that we have a good training week and that we are mentally, physically ready for this game, because one thing that will hundred percent happen is we will face an opponent. They can beat every team in the league. They have individual quality. They play high intensity football, so that’s what we have to expect.”
Hurzeler spent a day in 2023 with Postecoglou at Tottenham, gaining valuable experience which he has taken into this season.
He went on to praise the Aussie, adding: “I’m happy for him because he’s a very good guy. He deserves this. He deserves it and he has a lot of pressure on how he deals with it.
“I think he’s a role model for young coaches as well, like me. I’m very happy for him.
"I know that he worked hard for this and what I really like is that he said already in September after a game against Arsenal [that he wins things in his second season]. He’s a man who can look into the future and that’s something very impressive.”