Jack Hinshelwood’s polished performance against Nottingham Forest has given Brighton & Hove Albion something beyond an equaliser: another midfield option.
The 19-year-old came through Brighton’s academy, which he joined aged seven, as a central midfielder. Yet his first-team breakthrough last season came at right-back, under their head coach at the time Roberto De Zerbi. He had also been used at right-back, and left-back, in the early weeks of this season by the new head coach Fabian Hurzeler. But that changed for Forest’s visit on Sunday.
Twenty-year-old Swedish prospect Yasin Ayari reported on Saturday morning that he felt unwell and had a high temperature.
Hurzeler could have played Mats Wieffer, a £25million summer signing from Feyenoord, as the Netherlands international has recovered from a recurrence of thigh trouble which ruled him out for four games. But he chose instead to move Hinshelwood into the centre of the park, where he finished the 3-2 home win against Wolves in the Carabao Cup four days earlier.
Joining him was Carlos Baleba, while Hurzeler gave Ecuador international left-back Pervis Estupinan his first league start of the season following ankle surgery.
Hurzeler has now used five different central midfield combinations in as many league games. That has hampered the preference, as stated by the German to The Athletic in his press conference on Friday, to “bring consistency into my starting XI”, as he believes it is important “to build connections on the pitch, to build relationships”.
An ongoing hamstring injury suffered by James Milner, ankle ligament damage sustained by summer signing Matt O’Riley six minutes into his debut against Crawley in the Carabao Cup in August, and the sale of Billy Gilmour to Napoli at the end of the summer transfer window have all muddied the midfield waters, but Hinshelwood’s display against Forest, and his goal, vindicated Hurzeler’s willingness to shift his position again.
Hinshelwood’s towering header into the roof of the net from Jan Paul van Hecke’s right-wing cross in the 42nd minute cancelled out Chris Wood’s 13th-minute penalty for Forest, conceded by Baleba for a foul on Callum Hudson-Odoi. Danny Welbeck and Ramon Sosa were the game’s other scorers, a 2-2 draw leaving Brighton seventh in the early-season table.
One of Hinshelwood’s attributes is his deceptive strength in the air, considering he is not that tall (5ft 11in/181cm). Three of his four senior goals have been headers, this one against Forest adding to efforts last season in home wins against Brentford and Crystal Palace.
Only Evan Ferguson (12) has scored more Premier League goals for Brighton as a teenager than Hinshelwood, who also scored with his right foot in last season’s 4-2 home victory against Tottenham.
Hinshelwood is assured in possession with a good range of passing, diligent and competitive without the ball, plus there is an edge to his game. He gestured to Neco Williams to get to his feet after outmuscling the Forest substitute to prevent him making progress down the right flank early in the second half.
Hurzeler remarked on Friday that Hinshelwood “can be a future leader in this team”. For now, the sixth member of the Hinshelwood family to play English League football — and the fourth to play in its top division — continues to enhance his flourishing reputation. He made his England Under-21 debut at right-back in September’s 4-1 home win against Austria.
Andrew Crofts, an assistant head coach, along with Jonas Scheuermann, in the backroom set-up, deputised for Hurzeler at the post-match press conference after the head coach and counterpart Nuno Espirito Santo both received red cards from referee Rob Jones in the aftermath of the 83rd-minute dismissal of Forest midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White.
Crofts, who played in midfield in the Premier League for Norwich and at international level for Wales, said of Hinshelwood: “He is such a top player to be able to play in lots of different positions and to play each position as well as he does for someone so young is difficult.
“The goal is something he is really good at. We have seen him do that from full-back positions as well, so he gives real versatility. Growing up in the academy, he played a lot as a midfielder and he has got some really good attributes to suit that role.
“He can handle the ball really well, physically he is very good. He is game-intelligent, makes runs into the box, times it well and he can defend the box just as well. So, he has got so many different parts to his game that enables him to play at full-back and as a central midfielder. Long-term, we will see. It gives Fabian even more solutions to different scenarios.
“We were not expecting Yas (Ayari) to not be available. Straight away, he (Hinshelwood) gave us that option. He finished the game against Wolves in midfield and looked bright, so we had a little snapshot of seeing him there.”
(Top photo: Hinshelwood scoring his goal against Forest; Alex Pantling via Getty Images)
