Brighton vs Wolves: The inside track on the Seagulls

To get a proper look at the Seagulls, we spoke with Andy Naylor, Brighton reporter for the Brighton Argus and Scott McCarthy from WeAreBrighton.com.

See what they had to say here:

Brighton are obviously coming off a successful season, having stayed in the top flight when a fair few had questions about their Premier League quality, have they had any speed bumps to start the season? What is the main aim this time around?

AN: They have already played Manchester United (won) and Spurs at home, Liverpool and Manchester City away, so it has been a demanding set of fixtures.

They have done well to have more points at this stage than matches played.

The main aim has not changed, to steer clear of relegation.

SM: The aim is survival, as it probably is for every club outside of the top six.

There is so little between everyone else that it is just a case of trying to get to 40 points as quickly as possible and then seeing where you can end up.

With that in mind, we've made a pretty solid start to the season given that we played last years top four in our first seven games.

We're now on a run of nine games against sides around us in the table and have six points from six from the first two against West Ham and Newcastle.

String together a few wins between now and Chelsea's visit to the Amex in mid-December and things could be looking very rosey in the Brighton garden.

What sort of transfer business have we seen from Brighton this season?

AN: Similar in the sense that, since promotion, they have recruited primarily from other top European leagues in search of better value for money.

Another raft of recruits has improved the strength in depth of the squad, giving Chris Hughton better options.

They include £17 million record signing Alireza Jahanbakhsh. The Iranian winger has started the last two games against West Ham and Newcastle (both 1-0 wins).

SM: We spent over £50m in the summer which was staggering but what's even more staggering is that none of the new players has managed to break into the side.

Martin Montoya and Yves Bissouma have only played when Bruno and Pascal Gross respectively have been injured.

Bernardo was discarded after a poor debut in our opening day defeat at Watford and our record buy Alireza Jahanbakhsh has only started the last two games.

Hughton does have previous for slowly bedding in new arrivals as he did with Jose Izquierdo who wasn't really seen until the end of October last season, so if any of the new arrivals are going to make an impression it's in the next few weeks you'd suspect it will happen.

Who is the big danger man for Brighton going up against Wolves? Is there a certain player you'd pick out? and why?

AN: It would have been Glenn Murray until the nasty head injury he sustained at Newcastle which makes him a major doubt.

He is as clever as ever, has already scored five goals and is one short of a century for the club across his two spells, which would be a post-War record.

I'll nominate Jose Izquierdo, who made his first start of the season at Newcastle after returning from the World Cup with Colombia with a knee injury.

He has the capacity to make things happen. That was the case for the only goal at St James' Park, where his shot was touched in by Beram Kayal.

SM: We are pretty much reliant on Glenn Murray for goals but he was stretchered off with concussion after a sickening clash of heads at Newcastle on Saturday.

If he isn't fit for Saturday, then we will really struggle in front of goal, especially with Gross injured as well.

Murray's likely replacement will be Jurgen Locadia, a striker we paid £15m for in January which, 10 months into his Albion career, looks like £14,999,999 too much.

A lot of responsibility will fall on the shoulders of Jahanbakhsh and Anthony Knockaert, so fingers crossed he has an afternoon like he did last time we met at Molineux.

How do you expect Brighton to shape up against Wolves? What's your predicted XI?

AN: They do not often veer from a 4-4-1-1 formation, especially at home.

The line-up will depend on a combination of injuries and Hughton's choices.

Veteran skipper Bruno has competition at right-back this season from fellow Spaniard Martin Montoya.

Anthony Knockaert, who normally plays ahead of Bruno, was relegated to the bench on Tyneside.

It will be something like: Ryan; Bruno (or Montoya), Duffy, Dunk, Bong; Jahanbakhsh, Stephens, Kayal, Izquierdo; March (or Gross); Locadia.

SM: Without Murray, I'd change the shape as our 4-4-1-1 is set up to bring the best of him and Locadia certainly can't play as a lone striker.

The only time Hughton likes change though is when it comes from a vending machine, so I can see us sticking with the formation and a line up of Maty Ryan in goal, Bruno, Lewis Dunk, Shane Duffy and Gatean Bong across the back.

Knockaert, Beram Kayal, Dale Stephens and Jahanbakhsh in midfield and Solly March just behind Locadia.

Do you think Chris Hughton will look at Wolves as an 'easy' target given their recent promotion to the top flight?

AN: Definitely not! He is always respectful of the opposition. Don't forget, Brighton themselves are only in their second season in the top flight.

There are no easy points for Brighton at this level. Fulham have already held them at home and Wolves appear to have carried on where they left off last season.

SM: Hughton is too experienced and wily to look at anyone as an easy target, especially a side with as much talent as Wolves have.

Having said that, our away form reads three wins in 23 since promotion with only 13 goals scored so he knows that points at the Amex are crucial which is something he is brilliant at delivering - we've only lost five times at home in the Premier League since promotion.

Are there any injury worries for Brighton at the moment which could influence this game?

AN: As well as Murray, Bruno went off at Newcastle with a back injury. Influential German No.10 Pascal Gross, now back in training, has missed the last five matches with an ankle injury.

Central midfielder Davy Propper (ankle) is definitely out.

SM: Murray and Gross are massive losses if both don't recover in time.

Midfielder Davy Propper is also out for a number of weeks which looked like it could be a real blow given how much unseen work he gets through, but Kayal has been excellent since stepping in.

What have you made of Wolves from afar? Do you think they have a team capable of finishing in the top half of the Premier League this season?

AN: Impressed like everyone else. They play with a lot of energy, pace and style.

I do not envisage them being in any trouble, but I think some people have got carried away about the extent of their prospects.

I gather they have made the best start by a promoted team since Hull a decade ago. Hull were still flying at the turn of the year and nearly went down.

Newcastle finished tenth last season after winning the title, but that flattered them.

I had Wolves 14th in my pre-season predictions and I'm sticking to my guns.

SM: As long as you've got a super agent supplying you with some of the finest Portuguese players around, you're going to do well!

I think that aside from Newcastle, Cardiff and Huddersfield who look the three worst teams in the division, anyone is capable of finishing in the top ten.

Wolves are certainly better placed to do so that any of the promoted teams in recent memory.

Your match prediction?

AN: A 2-1 home win.

SM: Wolves are probably the only side that Brighton can claim to be a bogey team for, so I'm going 1-1 despite our severe worries about not having a goal scorer.

You can follow Andy by searching for @AndyNaylorArgus on Twitter, whilst you can read Scott's work by following @wearebrighton.