Eddie Howe drops big hint on who will start at Brighton in major show of faith

One thing that's been pretty consistent over the past six or seven weeks is Eddie Howe's team selection.

With Lewis Hall out, Sven Botman working his way back from knee surgery, Anthony Gordon either injured or suspended and our midfield three picking itself most weeks, it's barely changed since that 1-0 win at West Ham in early March.

However, that changed last weekend as a knee issue saw Joelinton miss our 3-0 win over Ipswich, leaving Howe with a decision to make now an official update has arrived on his availability moving forward.

Howe hints at Joelinton replacement

After confirming that Joelinton was likely to miss the final four games of the season, Eddie Howe was quickly asked who could fill the big hole the Brazilian leaves on the left side of his midfield.

And, based on his comments in Friday morning's press conference, it seems pretty clear who he has decided to start this Sunday in big Joe's absence - Joe Willock.

The boss was full of praise for the former Arsenal man this morning, insisting he's a "like-for-like replaceement" who he 'still has a lot of faith in' despite a stop-start season.

"We still have a lot of faith in Joe [Willock] and I think he's a like-for-like replacement really," Howe said. "He does a lot of his best work on the left-hand side of the pitch as Joelinton does."

"For me he's got goal scoring instincts, he's a very attack-minded player, very quick and athletic, a really good ball carrier, and let's not forget Joe's had some important contributions this season - most notably really in the Carabao Cup, where he scored some big goals for us.

"But also my mind goes back to the Arsenal game, at the Emirates, where I thought he was excellent that day, so no doubting his quality. Yes, he probably needs to feel that run of games to be at his very best. Hopefully he can show that."

Could Willock replicate Harvey Barnes?

That final point from Howe is very true. Willock probably does need that run of games to rediscover his confidence, match sharpness and best form.

We saw very similar with Harvey Barnes. In cameo appearances prior to Anthony Gordon's suspension and injury, he wasn't making that much of an impact and didn't look at it.

But given a run of games over the past six weeks while Gordon was missing, Barnes clicked into gear, which is exactly what we need from Willock as our only natural left-sided midfielder able to drive us on in Joelinton's absence.

He played a key role in away wins at Arsenal and Birmingham in both cup competitions and can hopefully have a similar impact at the AMEX this Sunday.