Brighton & Hove Albion captain Lewis Dunk has been ruled out until after the November international break with a calf injury
The 32-year-old central defender will miss Wednesday’s Carabao Cup fourth round tie at home to Liverpool, Saturday’s Premier League return meeting with Liverpool at Anfield and the visit of Manchester City to the Amex Stadium on November 9.
Dunk was due to make his 250th Premier League appearance for Brighton, all of which have been starts, until sustaining the injury during the warm-up before Saturday’s 2-2 home draw with Wolves. He was replaced by Brazilian Igor Julio at short notice, as Brighton conceded two late goals after leading 2-0 in the 85th minute.
Igor’s centre-back partner, Dutch international Jan Paul van Hecke, has recently returned from a groin injury which ruled him out of the October internationals for his country. Van Hecke and Igor are the only natural central defenders available to head coach Fabian Hurzeler for a testing run of fixtures, with Adam Webster ruled out by a hamstring injury.
Hurzeler, speaking about Dunk before the Wolves game, said: “He wants to win the small sided games in training, he wants to push his team-mates. Another thing that is very impressive for me is that he sees everyone here like a family. He wants to chill with the kit staff, he wants to chill with the chef, with the team manager. So he wants to spend time with the people.
“He’s my captain and he’s one of my most important players and also as a person very important because he knows the club. He knows the values of the club. He knows the history from the club. He knows what is needed to be successful in the Premier League.”
Dunk has won six England caps and was in Gareth Southgate’s squad for the European Championships in Germany in the summer without playing any minutes for the tournament runners-up.
Dunk was subsequently not named in the national squad by interim coach Lee Carsley for the September and October internationals before the appointment of Thomas Tuchel, who takes over from Carsley from January.
(Matt McNulty/Getty Images)
