Baleba back from AFCON as Brighton receive double boost for Bournemouth | OneFootball

Brighton expect Carlos Baleba and Yankuba Minteh to be available for Bournemouth’s Amex visit on Monday after a positive update from Fabian Hurzeler.

Baleba missed six matches while with Cameroon at AFCON. He made CAF’s group stage XI as they took seven points from nine, then was involved in both goals and won Man of the Match in the 2-1 round of 16 win over South Africa.

“Carlos had problems, family problems when he joined us for the competition and it was a question of his mental recovery,” said Cameroon head coach David Pagou, speaking to ESPN.

“But as soon as we took the reins of the national side, we began this mental work with him.”

“We gave him the keys to our midfield.”

Brighton will hope he carries that form into the Premier League, which could aid their push for Europe.

Minteh returns from a dead leg sustained in the 2-2 draw at West Ham in late December, having missed trips to Manchester City and Manchester United. Given Brajan Gruda’s goal and assist at Old Trafford from the right, Minteh may have to start on the bench.

There has been illness in the camp this week. Hurzeler expects it to clear by Monday night, although he previously called James Milner’s issue a small injury before a nine-month absence.

Adam Webster, Stefanos Tzimas and Solly March remain out. Mats Wieffer, the Dutch midfielder, is also unavailable with an unspecified toe injury from the 2-1 defeat at Arsenal on 27 December.

Source: WeAreBrighton.com