Maty Ryan backs Brighton to deliver in crunch clash with West Ham

Maty Ryan believes Brighton will respond positively at West Ham after the disappointment

Mooy, 29, agreed to make his season-long loan from Huddersfield Town into a permanent deal after signing a three-and-a-half year contract for Brighton.

Mooy, who scored during their 3-1 defeat at lowly Bournemouth, is now set to play a key role for Graham Potter’s men at West Ham.

Brighton are just two points above the drop zone while David Moyes’ Hammers, who played Liverpool on Wednesday, are separated from the relegation places by goal difference.

“It’s fully deserved, he’s done great since he came in and been a pivotal player for the squad, as I knew he would,” said Ryan, who helped tempt his Socceroo teammate to the south coast.

“I’ve seen first-hand what he possesses as a player and what he can bring to a team.

“We saw another glimpse of that with his goal last Tuesday, it was just a shame that the circumstances of the match meant it didn’t count for anything.

“If he gets a start this Saturday hopefully he can make another contribution to a better result.

“He seems to be enjoying life down here and I’m sure he’ll carry on helping the side.”

Albion have won just once in their last nine and are searching for their first victory of 2020. But West Ham have also endured a tough time of late.

Their last win came against Bournemouth on New Year’s Day but since then they lost to Sheffield United, drew against Everton and were then pummelled 4-1 at Leicester. Saturday’s match is huge for both teams.

Earlier this season in August, they drew 1-1 at the Amex as Leandro Trossard levelled after Javier Hernandez had put the visitors ahead.

Ryan said, “If you look at the table then you can see why Saturday is another of those.

“We’ve had a few tough results recently that mean we’re now in a battle down in that area of the table, but it’s a challenge we’re all looking forward to. We need to learn from those experiences and take them into this weekend.

“If we do that then I have no doubt that we will give a better performance and sustain what we want to be doing for longer periods in the match to get a good result.”

Dan Burn (shoulder) and winger Jose Izquierdo (knee) remain absent. Solly March returned to action at Bournemouth as a second half substitute and will be pushing for a starting role following his groin operation.