Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler has backed Danny Welbeck to play into his 40s after watching the striker snatch a hard-fought Premier League victory at Newcastle.
The 33-year-old clinched a 1-0 win at St James’ Park on Saturday, before leaving the pitch on a stretcher, after the visitors had survived a first-half onslaught in which keeper Bart Verbruggen excelled.
Seagulls head coach Hurzeler was full of praise for the former Manchester United and Arsenal frontman and predicted he could go on to emulate team-mate James Milner, who is still going strong well into his 39th year.
Asked how long he could continue, Hurzeler said: “If he continues to behave like he does, then he can play on for a long time. We have another player who is an age of nearly 40 and he’s still there and trying to be the best every day. That’s the same for Danny.
“I knew [when I came] he had great talent and he’s a great team-mate and very supportive. He’s not only a great footballer but a great team-mate and personality.
“He has a feeling for the dynamics of the team and he tries to connect the players. That’s very important for me.”
Welbeck’s goal 10 minutes before the break came after Verbruggen had denied Alexander Isak one-on-one as the home side allowed a series of chances to go begging.
But having survived the first half, Brighton exerted a greater measure of control after the break and might have won more comfortably had substitute Kaoru Mitoma found the composure to make the most of two late chances.
However, Welbeck’s afternoon ended prematurely when he was caught in the back by defender Fabian Schar’s knee and had to be carried from the field.
Hurzeler said: “He will have a scan and hopefully we know more later. I think he got the opponent’s knee in his back. Hopefully it’s not that bad, but we can’t be sure. Let’s wait for the result of the scans.”
It proved a frustrating afternoon for opposite number Eddie Howe, who saw his side lose at home for the first time since January and extend their wait for a goal from open play to just under seven hours of football.
Howe said: “I’m really frustrated because I thought our general performance today for 65 minutes was really good.
“I think that’s the best we’ve looked, the most dominant we’ve been in a game and lo and behold, we have plenty of chances, don’t take them and concede a poor goal from our perspective from Brighton’s first real meaningful attack.
“Of course, we only have ourselves to blame for that. We need to look at that and analyse that, but the majority of the performance, especially in the early stages of the game, was very, very strong.”
The Magpies saw claims for an early penalty for handball against Joel Veltman waved away, leaving head coach Howe to reflect upon what might have been.
He said: “I haven’t seen it back. A couple of our coaches have and they’re adamant it was a penalty.”