Lewis Dunk refused to label a European place as Brighton's target this season, insisting his focus is on the team showing more fight against Nottingham Forest.

Brighton had gone seven games without a win in the Premier League, before clinching a 2-0 victory over high-flying Brentford last time out.

They currently sit 14th, nine points clear of the drop zone, but also just six points off Brentford in seventh, with the middle of the table very tightly packed.

And following their much-needed victory, which has eased the pressure on Fabian Hurzeler slightly, Dunk's sole focus is on building some momentum for the final stretch of the campaign.

"I just want to see what we've seen in the last game," Dunk told BBC Radio Sussex.

"The fight in us, the clean sheet, the way we defended, the hunger in us. I think if we've got that in us, then I think we'll be more than happy with where we finish.

"People talk about targets and where we want to finish and Europe, and this and that. Yes, you can say it, but I don't get why we would when, really, we have to go game-by-game. That's how I look at football.

"Everyone would love to finish in Europe. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience [in the Europa League in 2023-24], but it's the Premier League and the Premier League is not easy. I'm not going to sit here and say we want to be in Europe again; we'll just see where we end up."

Forest, meanwhile, come into this tie on the back of stumbling into the last 16 of the Europa League; a strong 3-0 win in their first leg against Fenerbahce helped them through after they lost the second leg 2-1 on Thursday.

In the league, they are in trouble, sitting just two points above the relegation zone in 17th, though if West Ham shock Liverpool on Saturday, Forest may drop down before kick-off.

Since Lorenzo Lucca scored at Elland Road against Leeds United, Forest have had 56 shots, 71 touches in the opposition box and accumulated 3.9 expected goals without scoring in the Premier League.

And when asked how he would solve their goalscoring struggles, Vitor Pereira said: "In Istanbul, we scored three goals.

"We are creating the chances, and I believe that we can score the goals that we need to build our future."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Brighton – Danny Welbeck

Welbeck is one goal away from scoring 10 Premier League goals in 2025-26, having netted a career-high 10 in 2024-25.

Only seven players have scored 10 or more goals in consecutive seasons while aged 33 or older, most recently Jamie Vardy in 2020-21 and 2021-22 (15 in each).

Nottingham Forest – Elliot Anderson

Anderson leads all Premier League players for possession won (232) and duels won (223) this season.

He is the only English player on record since 2007-08 to average eight duels won (8.3) and win possession eight times (8.6) per 90 in a campaign (min. 1,000+ minutes).

MATCH PREDICTION: BRIGHTON WIN

Brighton are looking to complete a league double over Forest for the fourth time, after 1979-80 (top-flight), 2015-16 (Championship) and 2023-24 (Premier League).

They are helped by the fact that Forest are winless in their last five away league games against Brighton (D2 L3) since a 3-2 Championship victory in February 2015.

Brighton ended a six-game winless Premier League run with a 2-0 win over Brentford last time out. The Seagulls last won consecutive games in November, beating Brentford and Forest in that case.

Only bottom side Wolves (15) have failed to score in more Premier League games this season than Forest (13). Their 1-0 defeat to Liverpool in Pereira's first league game in charge was the third time this season they failed to score under a new manager in his maiden outing.

The Reds have shipped 19 goals via set-pieces in the Premier League this season – only Bournemouth have conceded more (20). At the other end, they have scored the joint fewest set-piece goals (eight, level with Wolves).

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Brighton – 56.7%

Draw – 22.4%

Nottingham Forest – 20.9%