'He feels better' - Key players return as Brighton look to get back to winning ways against Nottingham Forest

Bert Verbruggen and Joel Veltman also return to the side, with Jason Steele and Facundo Buonanotte on the bench and Mahmoud Dahoud suspended after his red card against Sheffield United.

Kaoru Mitoma, Adam Webster, Igor and James Milner are out injured, along with long-term absentees Pervis Estupinan, Julio Enciso, Solly March and Danny Welbeck.

Ferguson, 19, starts after recovering from a string of injuries which have impacted his form.

“He feels better,” Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi said, in his pre-match press conference on Friday.

"He can start the game tomorrow. I watched him in a better physical condition. I told him the same thing, this morning.

"I think he is improving his physical condition. About his qualities, we don’t have any doubt. He suffered with his physical condition in the last month, 40 days. Now he is better.”

Jakub Moder, who sustained an ACL injury in April 2022, could make his return to first-team action. The Polish international has been named on the bench.

Lamptey features for the first time since suffering an injury at Marseille on October 5. De Zerbi said: “Yes, he’s better. I don’t know if he can play 90 minutes, or a part of the game. But it’s good news for us because we were playing without a full-back, only Joel Veltman was available.”

The Seagulls are looking to end a run of seven Premier League games without a win.

Asked if their form plays on his mind – and adds extra pressure – De Zerbi said: “We don’t like it if we’re not winning, especially if we deserve to win. Not every game but the last two games, we deserve to win.

"The focus is to improve the quality of play. To improve the defensive phase. It’s important, the attitude and behaviour you put on the pitch. If you don’t want to concede a goal, it’s tougher for the opponent to score. Sometimes we show not the right attitude. It’s an improvement.

"We need to improve in the defensive phase because we conceded against both teams. We lost two points against Sheffield United because of our responsibility, not the referees.”

The midfield has been subject to a lot of changes in personnel this season but Carlos Baleba is still biding his time to become a regular starter.

De Zerbi said: "Carlos can play. He is not ready yet, in terms of knowledge, confidence, he is very young.

"The players, to become better, they need to play; but we need points, so for the coaches it is very difficult to give the right chance to play for the young players, and when it’s better to keep them on the bench for them to understand the play, and the timing of the play. But for sure, he will receive the chance to play in the next games.”

Bart Verbruggen, Tariq Lamptey, Lewis Dunk, Jan Paul van Hecke, Joel Veltman, Pascal Gross, Billy Gilmour, Adam Lallana, Simon Adingra, Ansu Fati, Evan Ferguson

Subs: João Pedro, Jakub Moder, Carlos Baleba, Jason Steele, Facundo Buonanotte, Jack Hinshelwood, Benicio Baker-Boaitey, Ben Jackson, Joshua Duffus