Brighton's Adam Webster relishing Liverpool challenge

Adam Webster’s goalscoring return was one of many pluses for the Seagulls despite the disappointment of Wednesday's Carabao Cup exit at the King Power Stadium.

The defender came back after a hamstring injury to score his first goal of the season as Albion drew 2-2 against Leicester City, before going on to lose 4-2 on penalties, with Neal Maupay and Enock Mwepu missing from the spot.

Webster played for just over an hour, his first action since coming off in Albion’s 1-0 win over Brentford at the Brentford Community Stadium on September 11.

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The defender said: “I was delighted to be back out there, and it is never nice watching the boys from the stands.

“Penalties are a lottery, but I thought we played well and grew into the game.

The first goal gave them a leg up, and the fans got behind them, but once we found our feet after 15-20 minutes, I thought we were arguably the better side.”

Webster finished with his feet from close range to equalise against the Foxes after Shane Duffy had headed down a corner.

He said: “It was really nice to get on the scoresheet. It was on my left foot, and it was bobbling around, so it was pleasing to get off the mark.”

Adam Webster is mobbed after equalising for Brighton - Pic by : Richard Parkes

Webster now has hope that he has put himself in Graham Potter’s thoughts for Saturday’s trip to Anfield to take on Liverpool in the Premier League.

Webster said: “I feel really good. It was a weird injury. I was running ten days after it happened, so I felt pretty sharp when I came back to full training. Now I’m looking forward to Saturday.

“We won there 1-0 last season, and that was amazing, but this time, there will be a full house, and they will have a few players back.

“They are flying, so we are going to have to be on the top of our game if we are to get anything from it, but we’ll relish the challenge.”

The defender had become a vital part of the Albion backline, forming a good partnership with Lewis Dunk before his injury, but Shane Duffy has managed to fill in the void left by the 26-year-old.

Webster will be hoping now he has returned from injury, he will be able to reach the heights that he was performing previously.

• READ MORE: Brighton boss full of praise for Mwepu performance

The defender joined Albion for what is believed to be a club-record £20 million transfer fee from Bristol City. He has so far made 69 appearances for the Seagulls, scoring five goals and assisting one in the process.

Webster’s best moment in an Albion shirt so far will be his memorable equalising goal against Manchester City in the Premier League last season.

The goal scored by Webster was vital in Albion being able to go on to win the game, thanks to a Dan Burn winner in the 76th minute.

Jurgen Klopp's side prepared for Albion's visit with a 2-0 win over Championship side Preston North End at the Deepdale Stadium on Wednesday night.

Despite the comfortable looking scoreline, the Reds did struggle at times against the lower-league opposition.

Though Liverpool had 79 per cent possession in the first half, they did not record a shot on target until Takumi Minamino turned in Neco Williams’ cross just after the hour, and were fortunate not to have trailed at the break with Preston passing up some glorious chances.

Klopp said: “We did not play well.

“That’s how it is, we started OK but then we lost structure completely and were too lively, too desperate to get the ball.

“We didn’t have enough players between the lines. That’s normal. That can happen when the team do not play as much together…We can play much better as a team but I saw some nice individual performances and that’s ok.”

Liverpool made sure of the game thanks to a late goal from Divok Origi strike.