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Injury News: Pearson and Rothwell set to miss Brighton

Gary O'Neil has confirmed that Ben Pearson and Joe Rothwell will both miss the weekend's game at home to Brighton & Hove Albion. 

The Seagulls travel to Vitality Stadium for a 3pm kick-off on Saturday and are currently sat fourth in the table. 

Speaking to the media in his pre-match press conference, the interim head coach provided an update on his squad. 

"They'll be no Ben Pearson and no Joe Rothwell," O'Neil said.

"Junior is back on the grass with the boys. He trained this morning and trained well. We still need to do some work with him, but good to have him back out there and back with the group. 

"Ben isn't out for too long. We're still not 100% clear on how long, but I don't think it's too significant.

"As for Joe, he has a few more weeks and some work still to do. We're keen to get them both back, but obviously need to make sure the right strategy is taken." 

O'Neil went on to reflect on the past seven days, which has seen the Cherries pick up four points from a possible six against Wolves and Nottingham Forest. 

"I've quite enjoyed all of it," he admitted. 

"In terms of the Forest game, the first half was what it was. We let ourselves down with some decisions and technical aspects in the final third.

"I thought that 2-0 was harsh at half-time and I felt that we had enough to come back into the game.

"At 1-0, my talk at half-time was going to be positive, but the penalty made it seem it would be a big task. Having said that, we stayed with it and got a good response." 

The former midfielder rounded off by sharing his thoughts on the upcoming Premier League Cup game at Vitality Stadium, with the development squad set to take on Derby County. 

"I think the impact that Mark Travers, Jordan Zemura and Jaidon Anthony have had has been massive for the club.

"You always pay an interest into how the young lads do. You see them in training sometimes and as a result are always keen to see how they're getting on. 

"I'm looking forward to it."