Sussex World's Mark Dunford is joined by Brighton & Hove Albion writers Derren Howard and Frankie Elliott, and Sussex Sport guru Steve Bone. Brighton defender Lewis Dunk played for England in the 3-1 win over Scotland at Hampden Park on Tuesday - nearly five years after his International debut. We delve into how Dunk performed. Dunk and his albion teammates’ thoughts will now turn to a trip to Old Trafford on Saturday - we will see how the Seagulls are stacked ahead of that game. Meanwhile, Crawley Town stunned Newport County 4-1 at the weekend and face League strugglers Tranmere this weekend. We will also get a run down of which Sussex sides are in FA Cup action this weekend.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00 Hi and welcome to another episode of Sussex Sport Weekly Podcast. I am Mark Dunford and I am joined
00:04 by Brighton & Hove Albion writers Derren Howard and Frankie Elliott and Sussex Sport guru Steve
00:10 Bone. Brighton defender Lewis Dunk played for England in the 3-1 win over Scotland at Hampden
00:15 Park on Tuesday, nearly five years after his international debut. We will delve into how
00:20 Dunk performed. Dunk and his Albion team-mates Forts now turn to a trip to Old Trafford on
00:25 Saturday. We will see how the Seagulls are stacked ahead of that game. Meanwhile Crawley Town stunned
00:30 Newport County 4-1 at the weekend and face league strugglers Tranmere this weekend. We also get a
00:36 rundown of which Sussex sides are in the FA Cup action this weekend. We'll start with Lewis Dunk's
00:44 display for England. I was impressed with him. Were you Derren? And what was the general reaction
00:48 about his display by fans and pundits? Yeah, no, I thought he looked really good. I was just so
00:56 pleased to see that he played in a manner that he has been, you know, playing for Brighton for the
01:01 last sort of four, you know, four years, five years in the Premier League and just improving as a
01:07 player all the time. And I thought the way he played, he's old, you know, he's obviously 31
01:13 years old now and he went there with a lot more confidence. He looked, you know, he's a completely
01:19 different player to the player that, you know, made his debut five years ago and has never been
01:24 seen since until the Scotland game. And yeah, I thought he did really well and he could, you know,
01:33 he went in there full of confidence and just looked like one of the best defenders on the pitch and
01:39 proved that he's one of the best defenders in the Premier League. And you kind of look at it and you
01:43 thought you're really pleased for him that he's there. But also you were wondering why Southgate
01:49 waited just so long to, you know, to get him in. When you look at players who have had a chance,
01:54 like Tarkovsky, Connor Cody, Tyrone Means, Michael Keane of Everton, they've all played ahead of him.
02:01 And I think Lewis Dunn really made a statement there to say, you know, this is my position,
02:06 I deserve to be here. And yeah, I thought he did really well. He blocked, tackled, read the game
02:14 superbly and looked every inch an international defender capable of playing for England on the
02:20 biggest stage. Excellent. And Frankie, he's got to be a shoe in for the Euros, hasn't he? You would
02:27 have thought if poor old Harry Maguire plays ahead of him, it would be a shocker, wouldn't it?
02:32 Well, yeah, I mean, the one thing about the Maguire situation is obviously the lack of game
02:39 time he has means it becomes more increasingly difficult for him to play for England. However,
02:44 Wally, I know you can see that goal on Tuesday and didn't play brilliantly. He hasn't let England
02:50 down at a major tournament, which means an awful lot to Southgate. I mean, he has been actually one
02:55 of England's players at international tournaments and Southgate's run as manager has been based on
03:00 the fact that he's been very successful. And I know they haven't won anything, but in the context
03:04 of England, he has done very well. And Maguire fits into that because he's been an important
03:09 player. So that's the only thing I could see from that side. But in regards to Lewis Dunk,
03:13 Darren's absolutely right. Beforehand, a number of centre backs have played ahead of him,
03:17 mainly probably because Bright, although Dunk's been a top quality player, he's been playing on
03:21 a side that's normally been in the bottom half of the table. I think the fact that he's now playing
03:25 in one of the most attractive sides in Europe now and is the captain of that side means that
03:30 Southgate can't really ignore him now. So I believe if Brighton continues to have as good
03:35 a season as they did last year, then he's very much got a very strong case of being in that squad
03:40 because he is a defender in one of the best teams in Europe and European sides, the Spains, Italy,
03:46 Germans of the world, pick the players from the best teams. And now Brighton have entered that
03:50 bracket, which is great for him. And it's also great for England as well, because they're picking
03:53 up not only a brilliant ball playing defender, but also an out and out defender who's great at the
03:57 basics, as Deryn alluded to. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, what central defensive pairings would
04:05 we all like to see start for England at the Euros? I think Duncan Stones would be good personally,
04:10 but Frankie, starting with you, who do you think, who can you see starting in that first game in
04:15 the Euros? It's going to be interesting to see if we start with a back four or a back five.
04:22 I think obviously we are looking at a basis on who they've got in the group,
04:28 and that could depend on how many centre backs they play. I think John Stones is obviously
04:32 going to start off their player two. I do wonder, because this is potentially
04:36 Gareth Suffolk's last tournament as England manager, we expect him to leave after the next
04:41 Euros, whether he plays a younger defender as a way to sort of, as a sort of lasting legacy thing
04:47 to blood in a new defender to help England in the future. So someone like Levi Carwell,
04:52 or Mark Gahee could play in front, you know, probably not as at the same level as Dunk right
04:58 now, but you know, potentially could be as good, if not better. So I could see that as a pairing
05:03 potentially, but there's also the case for in the bigger games, going to that classic system of
05:08 playing Dunk, sorry, not Dunk, John Stones, Maguire and Kyle Walker as a right centre back.
05:14 That's always worked well, again, for Southgate. Those are the players he really trusts. I think
05:19 Dunk's got still a long way to go to be trusted by Southgate. He's done well to get into the squad,
05:23 but to enter that sort of close circle of trust for big games, I still think is a little bit of
05:27 a way off. So we'll see in the run up to the Euros, whether he can enter that, but he's not
05:31 quite there yet. - Steve, what do you think? - Well, I think if Euro 2024 started tomorrow,
05:40 I think probably Maguire and Stones would be his chosen pairing. But there's quite a lot of
05:47 football to be played between now and the start of that tournament. So I think Dunk has got a real
05:51 chance to keep playing consistently well, keep Brighton in the top half of the Premier League,
05:56 hopefully play a few more times for England and prove to Southgate that he is the one to be
06:03 chosen alongside Stones. Southgate is very loyal to Maguire. So, you know, you kind of think Maguire
06:10 probably will be there or thereabouts, unless he has a bad season or doesn't play many games.
06:17 But, you know, we've got a full season ahead of us before the final, so injuries,
06:24 bad form can still come into it. But I think Dunk has done everything he can to give himself a
06:30 chance of being in one of those two positions, certainly being in the squad and hopefully
06:34 being in one of those two positions come the tournament. - Yeah, and Darren? - Yeah,
06:40 I think Maguire is, you know, he is Southgate's trusted man. But I think if he'd have got his
06:45 move to West Ham, he would have been in a better position to state his case. I just can't see him
06:50 playing enough games at Man United to be a first choice England centre-back. So I think if I was
06:58 to pick my top two, I'd look at John Stones. Obviously, he's the best centre-back England
07:03 have by a mile. And then the other position is up for grabs and it's just who performs better.
07:10 I'd love to see Stones and Colwell, Levi Colwell, play in there. I think that would be a nice
07:16 balance. Depends how he gets on at Chelsea this season. But I think he looked very good. He's
07:22 athletic. He's quicker than Dunk as well. But I don't think Dunk gets into the first 11, but I
07:29 think he should make the squad if he has a good season and stays injury free for Brighton. But,
07:34 yeah, my top two would be either Colwell and Stones or Stones and Gehry, I think, for the
07:41 championships. Brilliant. And before we leave, Dunk, Steve, you have been talking to the Chichester
07:50 City coach, Darren Kilpatrick, this weekend. He has a connection with the Albion star,
07:56 doesn't he? Can you just talk us through that? Yeah, he does. Lewis Dunk's career has been
08:00 followed quite closely by fans of Bognor Regis Town, because when Dunk was 17 and a raw sort of
08:08 kid in the Brighton youth team in the academy, he spent two months on loan at Bognor. And people
08:14 remember it because he was one of those players who looked, you'd never known he was only 17 by
08:21 the way he played. He came into men's football, it was his first go at men's football. It was in the
08:29 Isthmian Premier League, so not an easy level to come into, quite tough, quite physically demanding.
08:35 And he just took to it like a duck to water. Not only that, but he was coming into a struggling
08:39 Bognor team. They were battling relegation at that time. He only played about eight or nine games.
08:46 I think he scored one goal and he might even have scored an own goal as well. So,
08:50 it was a bit of a baptism of fire. But as Darren Kilpatrick says, you could tell by his attitude,
08:58 everything about him, not just the way he played, but the way he was off the pitch as well.
09:02 You knew that that was a player that was going to go a long way, had just the right approach to
09:06 football, just the right attitude, not afraid to get stuck in, put his body on the line for the
09:13 team. And so, Dabba, as he's known, and everyone at Bognor really, was not surprised to see him go
09:21 on to do so well at Brighton. And he's quite proud to have seen an ex-Bognor player playing for
09:25 England. There haven't been too many of them. In fact, I don't know if there's been any others at
09:29 all. So, yeah. It's a great picture you sent through as well. Him, 17 years old. It'll be
09:35 on the Sussex World website, I guess, won't it? Yes. Yeah. So, I'm doing a piece later that will
09:40 be online with Dabba talking about Dunk. It's a good link. Lovely. Brilliant stuff.
09:46 Back to Premier League action after that dull international break.
09:51 Brighton face a trip to Old Trafford this weekend. How is the squad looking this weekend,
09:55 Darren? How is Evan Ferguson doing? Can we expect to see Anssu Fati make a much anticipated debut?
10:01 Yeah, there's a few selection decisions for De Serby to make. As you mentioned, Evan Ferguson,
10:09 he pulled out of the squad hat-trick against Newcastle and then pulled out of the Ireland
10:13 international camp with a sore knee. The Ireland manager said that he's actually,
10:20 he came into the camp and he was, he had a knee issue going into the Newcastle game. So,
10:25 yeah, it just begs the question of what he's going to be like when he's fully fit, really. So,
10:31 if he scores a hat-trick when he's injured. So, yeah, hopefully he'll be fit to face Manchester
10:37 United. But they'll be assessing him. There were some training ground pictures that we saw and there
10:43 was no sign of Evan Ferguson participating in any of the pictures that we saw. Danny Welbeck was
10:51 training. He looked as though he was fit and firing. He missed the Newcastle game with a,
10:57 just described as a minor issue. So, if Evan Ferguson isn't fit, then Danny Welbeck may come
11:05 back into the team. He looks as though he was training well. But then, as you say, there's
11:11 Ansoo Fatty. He could make his debut as well. He wasn't fit enough to start. He joined late in the
11:16 window along with Carlos Boliva, the £25m midfielder from Lille. And both watched on from
11:23 the stands as they beat Newcastle 3-1. So, those two could come into contention against Manchester
11:31 United as well. Especially if Welbeck and Ferguson are a bit dodgy, then Ansoo Fatty could be in one
11:36 of those attacking roles as well. And I think Igor Julio as well. I think he may come into the
11:45 picture as well in the next couple of games. They've got Man Utd swiftly followed by their
11:50 first Europa League game on the Thursday against AEK Athens at the Amex Stadium. So, I think Igor
11:57 Julio could come in as well. So, there could be three debutants for Brighton in the coming fixtures.
12:05 - Wow. Manchester United seem to be a bit of a shambles at the moment, don't they, Frankie?
12:10 Brighton must go there as favourites. But who do Albion need to be wary of from the United front?
12:16 - Yeah, they do at the moment. I mean, if you look at all of United's first four games of the season,
12:22 they have won two. But the two wins, they were two-nil down to Nottingham Forest and picked up
12:26 the win with a very dubious penalty. And against Wolves, they were by far the less superior team.
12:34 And Wolves should have probably at least got a draw, maybe even got the three points. So,
12:37 it's been a rocky start. But the thing that Brighton always have to remember, and I think
12:41 this is the thing that United have still ingrained in them, is they can pick up wins when they're not
12:45 playing particularly well. They've still got a lot of match winners in that side, obviously,
12:50 people like Bruno Fernandes, Marcus Rashford. They've also got Champions League experience
12:55 winners in Casemiro and Varane. So, there's a lot of players in there that can get them over the
12:59 line, which you've seen this season and also in previous seasons as well. So, that's always an
13:04 issue, especially at Old Trafford as well, and they've got 75,000 fans behind them. So, in regards
13:10 to Brighton going in as favourites, I think they do go in as favourites. And I think we can expect
13:15 them to be the better side in regards to, I'm sure they're going to have more possession, I'm sure
13:19 they're going to create more chances. But the key thing is, is taking those chances, because as we've
13:23 seen already this season, even if they're a goal ahead or two goals ahead, United have the
13:27 capability of bringing it back due to the level of quality that is in that squad. It's not really
13:32 come together yet, but it is there and it can turn on an instance, I think. So, that's something to
13:40 always be wary of. Frankie, staying with you, how excited are you to see Anssi Fassi possibly make
13:46 his debut for Brighton & Hove Albion? Yeah, no, it's incredibly exciting. It's going to be,
13:52 not only is it exciting for the fact that they've got a Barcelona star, going to be wearing a
13:57 Brighton shirt, which is going to be an amazing moment. It's going to be interesting, more
14:00 importantly, to see where he starts. I mean, Deren's alluded to it. I think you're more likely
14:04 to see, he's been playing out wide on the sort of attacking left midfield for Barcelona in the last
14:10 year and a half. But obviously, that's carried by Thomas's position. So, I'd imagine if Ferguson or
14:15 Welbecker are not 100%, we can imagine seeing maybe as a central striker, which is where he
14:20 started his career. So, it's a very interesting way to see how he'll slot in, which is, I've said
14:27 before, it's a bizarre thing to be saying about a Barcelona player coming to Brighton, that instead
14:30 of going, 'Wow, I can't wait to watch him', you're going, 'Where does he play?' But that's where
14:37 Brighton are at the moment. And I think the most important, the key thing will be to see how well
14:44 he is adapted to the Premier League, how quickly he can adapt to the Premier League, because
14:49 Manchester United is still one of the biggest clubs and still one of the best teams in the
14:54 league. Playing at Old Trafford, that's with all the glitz and glamour, the biggest ground
14:58 in England outside of Wembley. It's a real good place for him to make a statement about his
15:03 intentions and how well he can play by getting off to a good start. And I think playing up front
15:07 allows him to be on the end of a lot of good opportunities created by the rest of the team.
15:11 So, there's a real potential for him to get his first goal in his first game as well. So,
15:15 it's incredibly exciting. And like I said, it'll be interesting to see where he slots into this
15:20 very well-oiled machine at the moment. Yeah, absolutely. And we believe we have Sam
15:25 Morton, who's going to be at Old Trafford for us this week. So, we'll look out for his updates at
15:29 the weekend. I'm going to talk about Crawley Town now. I've got no one to ask me questions about it,
15:35 but I will talk about it. Crawley, they were, again, magnificent as they beat Newport County 4-1
15:42 on Saturday. They're now up to 10th in the league. The stats were unbelievable in favour of Crawley.
15:49 I've talked about it before that they're playing like peak Barcelona. And they had 71% possession.
15:55 They had 640 passes compared to Newport's 250, I think it was. They were absolutely superb. And
16:04 now they've got to take that into next game, which is against Tranmere on Saturday. Tranmere,
16:09 who are near the bottom of League Two, they've only won one of their first seven games. They've
16:14 just sacked manager Ian Dawes and Nigel Adkins has come in. He was their technical director.
16:19 He's now taken over as a temporary charge of Tranmere. Crawley will go into the game expecting
16:25 to win or be the odds-on favourites to win, but it'd be an interesting challenge for them.
16:31 Slightly different. Newport came out and who were one of the better teams. Tranmere are really
16:36 struggling at the moment and Crawley are on a high. So yeah, it's got to be a very interesting
16:41 one. And hopefully Crawley can win again and keep climbing up League Two.
16:45 So enough about boring professional football, well, semi-professional football, Steve.
16:50 Well, it's the second qualifying round of the FA Cup this weekend and we have nine teams
16:56 from Sussex playing in it. I think it's the best we've had for a few seasons, isn't it?
17:02 And can you just go through who's playing and what we can expect to go through, Steve?
17:07 Certainly can. Yeah, it's the best number at this stage for five years.
17:11 I think five years ago, our friend Will did a piece for us and I think he said there
17:17 there was 11 Sussex teams at this stage five years ago. But yeah, we've got eight ties to
17:22 get excited about because two of our teams are playing each other. Eastbourne Borough
17:26 against Worthing is the big one for Sussex. Our two National South teams up against each other.
17:32 Played each other in the Cup last year, actually, and Eastbourne went through on that occasion.
17:35 Difficult to call, actually, because Worthing have had a very good start to the league season.
17:40 Eastbourne Borough have been a little bit up and down, but can be very good on their day.
17:44 And have got home advantage. Wouldn't be a surprise to see that come back to a Woodside
17:50 Road replay next week. But seven other teams involved, so I'll run through the ties. Ascot
17:57 United against Lewis, which you would expect Lewis to win against the lower placed team there. Dover
18:02 against Hastings. You'd probably say Hastings are second favourites there against the National South
18:08 side, but Hastings are on very good form. They've won four in a row in the league and are scoring
18:13 plenty of goals. Eastbourne United are at home to Berkhamstead down on the Princess Park Oval.
18:19 So there's two FA Cup games in Eastbourne for people to choose from. Sport for Choice down there.
18:24 Again, Eastbourne United are very much the underdogs there. Stenning against Maidstone
18:28 is one of the more intriguing ones. So that's step five against step two. Stenning, nothing to lose,
18:36 but it's the FA Cup, so anything can happen. They'll be going into it thinking they've got a
18:41 chance. A couple of our Istvan Premier teams are at home. Horsham are at home to Marlow.
18:48 Should win that really. Again, Horsham had a good start in the league, so you'd expect them to come
18:53 through that. Whitehawker are at home to Redhill. Surrey team, again, you'd say their favourites
18:59 there. And last but not least of our Sussex teams, Burgess Hill, who of course beat Bogner
19:04 in the last round, are away to Sheppey, who play in the same league as them. I'm going to say we're
19:10 going to have about five teams through to the next round, if all goes well at the weekend. You can
19:16 tell me I'm wrong next week if you want to and you show what it is, but I'm going to go for
19:23 five of those to get through. It should be a cracking weekend of Cup action.
19:27 It's great to see Stenning have a big tie like that. Stenning haven't been their biggest game
19:33 in their history, isn't it? I think so, yes. They're going to have a crowd of 600, possibly
19:39 a bit more than that, down there for that. As with all these games, nothing to lose. They can go for
19:47 it. They might end up getting beaten 6-0, you just don't know, but it'll be packed out. Our
19:52 colleague Sam Woodman is going to be in the crowd there cheering them on. From the Cup,
19:58 plenty of reports and pictures on Sussex World from Saturday night onwards.
20:02 Lovely. We'll go on to the Steve Bone-sponsored score predictions corner.
20:08 We start off with the big one at Manchester United versus Brighton. Frankie, what are you
20:16 thinking for this one? I think so far I've got a record of not even zero correct scores,
20:22 zero correct results. We're flying at the moment. So, I'm going to go... So, Brighton have won their
20:28 last three league games against United, and they were very unlucky in the FA Cup game as well. So,
20:33 on a good run against them, I'm going to confidently go for a 2-1 Brighton win.
20:38 Cool. Darren? Yeah, it's always hard after the international break. You never know quite...
20:44 The managers don't have too much time to prepare, and you're never quite sure how
20:47 the injuries are. But yeah, based on Brighton's recent record against United and the form that
20:55 they're in so far, I think they're going to get a win. And yeah, I'm going to go for a 2-1 to Brighton.
21:02 I'm going to be a bit more confident. I'm going to go 3-1 Brighton. I just think
21:07 Man Utd, the shambles they are at the moment, and Brighton playing some good stuff. Ansu Fati
21:13 will score. That's what I'm going for. Steve Bain? Every week so far, I've gone for Brighton draw,
21:20 and so far they haven't had a draw. Man Utd 0-0 Brighton.
21:24 Oh, poor. Don't think Brighton are going to... Yeah, don't think it's going to be as easy for
21:33 Brighton as you guys think it will be. Fair enough. Cool, excellent. Right,
21:38 we'll move on to the mighty Crawley Town. I'm going for an easy 3-0 win here. Tranmere,
21:45 they're in a bit of trouble, and I think Crawley Town will take advantage. They're riding high.
21:50 Steve, I'm going to go to see you straight away on this one.
21:52 I'm a bit confused. Yeah, I'm a bit confused about Crawley because on Monday, you were telling us
21:58 that it's like watching Brazil, and now today you're telling us it's like watching Barcelona.
22:02 So, you need to make your mind up. Brazil, oh yeah, no. Yeah, no. Yeah, a mixture of both.
22:09 Mixture of both, Steve. Okay, that's fair enough. I'm going to go for a 1-0 Crawley Town win.
22:14 Lovely. Frankie? Yeah, I think the free-flowing nature of Crawley's football at the moment is
22:23 obviously great. It's great to watch, and they're playing really well. So, I'm going to go for 4-0
22:26 Crawley. Wow. Come on. That's what I like to hear. Deren?
22:32 I'm going to go for a 2-0 for Crawley. Really impressed how they've been playing. I haven't
22:40 seen too much, but on the highlights that I've seen, they look as though they're playing some
22:44 great football. So, yeah, 2-0. Lovely. And well, just quickly,
22:50 Eastbourne Borough versus Worthing, the big FA Cup tie for Sussex this weekend.
22:54 What's the score going to be, Steve? I'm going to go for 3-3.
22:58 A goal fest at Priory Lane and back to a replay next week.
23:03 Frankie? Yeah, I'm not going to go for as many goals, but I think it's going to be a draw,
23:12 and if a 1-0. Yeah. And Deren, your old stomping ground?
23:20 Yeah, yeah. Many days at Priory Lane. I saw they signed the old Brighton player, Zach Emerson,
23:25 as well, didn't they? He's in the Brighton youth team. So, he's a decent player for Eastbourne
23:32 Borough to bring in. So, yeah, I think it'll be close, but I think I'll go for 2-1 to Eastbourne
23:39 Borough. Excellent. And I'm going to go for a draw as well. I'm going to go for a 1-1 draw,
23:44 and we'll have a replay. So, thanks, guys. Thanks for everything there. You can catch up with all
23:50 the latest sports news covering everything we've talked about today at sussexworld.co.uk.
23:55 See you next week.