Brighton Fan View: The FA Cup represents a rare opportunity to rotate

Certain Premier League managers should stop whingeing and get on with it.

West Brom supposedly asked the Premier League to postpone Tuesday’s game at West Ham, with manager Alan Pardew saying playing two games in quick succession over the New Year period was not right, while Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola called it a ‘disaster’.

The actual expression I have repeatedly heard this week is teams having to play ‘two games in 48 hours’. I suspect this is just a case of lazy journalism in some cases, but two games in three days is more than 48 hours. That moot point aside, it is what it is so stop moaning.

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The same as West Brom and Manchester City, Brighton had to play twice in three days (Saturday-Monday, as opposed to Sunday-Tuesday in the case of the other two) but did you hear us complaining or asking for matches to be postponed? The schedule is a lot harder on teams like Brighton who are new to the Premier League and who are operating with a smaller squad than most, certainly compared to Manchester City.

Eight of the Brighton team that started at Newcastle last Saturday also started against Bournemouth on Monday, with another – Bruno – coming on as substitute. Brighton have had five players feature in all 22 Premier League games we have played this season and another five who have featured in 19 or more. Brighton’s players have also had to cope with the mental pressure of playing in the Premier League, which few of them have experienced before.

Against Bournemouth, we looked tired in the last 20 minutes, but did you hear any complaints about the fixture schedule from us? We knew what we were coming into with the Premier League and we knew the limitations of our squad in terms of numbers – and we have accepted it and got on with it. And I tell you one other thing, it would not be a ‘disaster’ for us if we could name a substitutes’ bench containing Danilo, Gundogan, Bernardo Silva and Yaya Toure, with Gabriel Jesus, Benjamin Mendy and Vincent Kompany not in the 18.

That all said, the FA Cup has come at a good time for Brighton, particularly with our third round tie against Crystal Palace being on Monday night. Even though we are playing our biggest rivals, I would expect Chris Hughton to name a fringe squad for the game and I suspect Roy Hodgson will do the same with Palace.

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Although I still cherish the FA Cup, having been at Wembley for both games of that 1983 final, and despite the fact I hate losing to Palace at any time, this is an ideal opportunity for Chris Hughton to rest his regular players and give an opportunity to others who may be needed in the weeks to come when injuries and fatigue finally catch up.

People like Tim Krul, Connor Goldson, Uwe Huenemeier, Beram Kayal and Sam Baldock should all get a game, Isaiah Brown may get a rare start while others like Jamie Murphy (subject to any move to Rangers), Jiri Skalak and Liam Rosenior could all come into the squad.

At the moment, Brighton’s biggest priority is Premier League survival and we have a huge game at West Brom next weekend when we need our best players fit and fresh. Playing Monday night means a shorter turnaround than West Brom, who go to Exeter on Saturday, but I would not want to complain about it!

@GriggoHome