[h=3]Sami admits: Ulloa will be a hard man to replace[/h]5:00am Friday 25th July 2014 in Albion By Andy Naylor
Sami Hyypia
Albion boss Sami Hyypia fears it will be hard to replace Leo Ulloa.
But he has backed new signing Chris O’Grady to add a physical edge to his attacking options.
The Seagulls go to Peterborough tomorrow (3pm) for their penultimate pre-season friendly with at least one more striker high on Hyypia’s shopping list after Ulloa’s £8 million move to Leicester.
O’Grady’s debut following his £500,000 capture from Barnsley was delayed by a rib injury at Crawley on Wednesday night. Hyypia hopes to have him available tomorrow, together with fellow newcomers Nzuzi Toko and Aaron Hughes who also both missed the 1-1 draw at Crawley with a swollen knee and illness respectively.
Hyypia said of life without Leo: “I think it will be difficult to find a similar kind of player. We would need somebody who scores the goals Leo did last season. That would be a great help for me, of course, and for the whole team.
“We’ll see. I think Chris O’Grady is the type of striker we didn’t have, so that was the idea bringing him in. He brings a physical presence up front. Leo was a little bit similar, a presence up front.
"Hopefully Chris will score many goals for us as well but we need to also have a look at which type of striker we still add to the squad.
“If we have a good selection of different types of players in the front three positions then I think that would be a help for us. It’s not as if I am counting how many strikers I will have.
"The main thing is having a selection of different types of players you can use in different games.”
England under-21 international Solly March is expected to sit out the Peterborough game after a right hip problem forced him off early on at Crawley.
Hyypia said: “He got a knock and when it’s a knock it will be okay in a few days. Solly has done well in pre-season and he has the quality up front. He can bring a lot of things to the team.”
Original article
Albion boss Sami Hyypia fears it will be hard to replace Leo Ulloa.
But he has backed new signing Chris O’Grady to add a physical edge to his attacking options.
The Seagulls go to Peterborough tomorrow (3pm) for their penultimate pre-season friendly with at least one more striker high on Hyypia’s shopping list after Ulloa’s £8 million move to Leicester.
O’Grady’s debut following his £500,000 capture from Barnsley was delayed by a rib injury at Crawley on Wednesday night. Hyypia hopes to have him available tomorrow, together with fellow newcomers Nzuzi Toko and Aaron Hughes who also both missed the 1-1 draw at Crawley with a swollen knee and illness respectively.
Hyypia said of life without Leo: “I think it will be difficult to find a similar kind of player. We would need somebody who scores the goals Leo did last season. That would be a great help for me, of course, and for the whole team.
“We’ll see. I think Chris O’Grady is the type of striker we didn’t have, so that was the idea bringing him in. He brings a physical presence up front. Leo was a little bit similar, a presence up front.
"Hopefully Chris will score many goals for us as well but we need to also have a look at which type of striker we still add to the squad.
“If we have a good selection of different types of players in the front three positions then I think that would be a help for us. It’s not as if I am counting how many strikers I will have.
"The main thing is having a selection of different types of players you can use in different games.”
England under-21 international Solly March is expected to sit out the Peterborough game after a right hip problem forced him off early on at Crawley.
Hyypia said: “He got a knock and when it’s a knock it will be okay in a few days. Solly has done well in pre-season and he has the quality up front. He can bring a lot of things to the team.”
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Original article