Stockdale set for swift Brighton squad return

Albion’s first-choice stopper suffered a shin injury in his side’s clash with Nottingham Forest on Friday.

However, after stand-in Niki Maenpaa was handed his maiden Albion start against Rotherham on Tuesday, Chris Hughton is expecting Stockdale back in the squad for Saturday’s Madjeski Stadium trip.

Brighton’s boss said: “He’s fine, trained yesterday and will be back in the squad for the weekend, he’s made a good recovery.

“I think on the initial incident, certainly when we saw the stretcher going on, that could have been anything but I think the feeling a day later was nothing major. It was then just a case of how long it was going to take. He’s back training, fit and available now.”

Long-term absentees Solly March and Uwe Hunemeier are pencilled in to make their Albion returns on Monday.

March, who has been out since December with anterior cruciate ligament damage, is set to feature for Brighton’s under-23 side along with Hunemeier against Aston Villa.

Hunemeier’s fellow central defender Connor Goldson is also due to play some part in at least one of Albion under-23’s three fixtures this week.

Hughton added: “We’re expecting both Uwe and Solly to be involved in an under-23 game on Monday. We’ve also got another two under-23 matches over the course of the next week with Connor expected to be involved in one of those, possibly two.”

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