Brighton and Hove Albion secured their first win since November with a fairly routine 2-0 win over Burnley on Saturday.

Here are our Scout Notes from that contest.

MINTEH LATEST

There was no Yankuba Minteh (£6.0m) in the Brighton squad, let alone the starting XI.

Fabian Hurzeler had reported fairly positive news in Friday’s presser, saying that a scan had revealed nothing more than a dead leg.

That dead leg still saw him miss out against the Clarets, however.

“I wouldn’t say a setback but he was just not 100 per cent fit. We had to make a decision there, so unfortunately, he was not able to play.” – Fabian Hurzeler on Yankuba Minteh, as quoted by Sussex Express

START FOR £4.8M FORWARD OVER WELBECK

Danny Welbeck (£6.3m) meanwhile took his place among the substitutes at the Amex, as Hurzeler continues to manage his minutes.

Starting in his place was Charalampos Kostoulas (£4.8m), a big-money summer signing but still a rookie at just 18 years old.

“I think very important. In general, I always emphasise the team.

“It’s so important in the Premier League that you have a squad that is there for each other, a squad that can replace the players.” – Fabian Hurzeler on the importance of being able to have someone to rotate with Danny Welbeck

Kostoulas did well up top, playing in front of Georginio Rutter (£5.6m). His movement was promising, while his control and finish for the disallowed 10th-minute strike – a marginal offside denying him a full league debut goal – was excellent.

The young Greek forward should have done better with a tame shot at Martin Dubravka (£4.0m) after the interval, while he just couldn’t stretch far enough to meet Yasin Ayari‘s (£4.8m) cross five minutes later.

He did, at least, bank an assist, inadvertently sending the ball into Rutter’s path for Albion’s 29th-minute opener.

“He worked hard for that, he deserved to start. He had some hard moments when he came here; he had to adapt to the challenges, to the demands of the Premier League – mentally and physically. He used every training session to keep improving.

“Today he showed what he’s capable of doing but I know that there is still more potential in him. We see it in every training session, therefore I hope it was just the beginning and that he keeps on pushing.” – Fabian Hurzeler on Charalampos Kostoulas

MITOMA BRIGHT ON COMEBACK AS GROSS RETURNS

It wasn’t brilliant from Brighton; it didn’t have to be against Burnley. A far bigger test awaits in midweek, although a nice-ish run comes thereafter.

The hope will be that the rotation that dogged Albion, and many clubs, over Christmas and New Year will subside a bit from Gameweek 22, when we’re (mostly) back on a weekly frequency of fixtures. Rutter, for instance, had been a substitute last Tuesday.

Gameweek 26 is the only match above that is contested in a midweek, while the Seagulls don’t have European distractions.

Even without the pace of fixtures, of course, Welbeck’s back issues may see minutes continually managed.

Kaoru Mitoma (£6.1m) was someone playing week in, week out for Hurzeler before his injury lay-off. He made his first start since Gameweek 6 here, looking pretty sharp in a 69-minute-long run-out. One for the medium-term watchlist.

Mitoma’s return also likely spells bad news for too many more ‘out of position’ Maxim De Cuyper (£4.3m) run-outs. The Belgian, on as a substitute, hit the woodwork with a late free-kick.

Pascal Gross (£5.5m) meanwhile started his second spell as a Brighton player as a late sub.

VAN HECKE TO LOSE DEFCON?

A clean sheet for Albion rarely looked under threat, with Burnley not having a shot until first-half injury time.

Ferdi Kadioglu (£4.4m) – starting his 16th consecutive league game – brilliantly cleared a header onto the bar and Ayari nearly unwittingly scored a comedy own-goal, but the Clarets’ threat was minimal.

It looks like Jan Paul van Hecke (£4.5m) may lose his DefCon points from Gameweek 20, meanwhile.

After the Opta refresh, he’s down to nine contributions now (see below) – and we’ll likely see that reflected in the adjusted FPL scores tonight.

As for Burnley, they had performed better of late (drawing twice and pushing Newcastle in midweek) but even their own manager called this display “powderpuff”. In fairness to the Clarets, they are mired in unavailability issues at present, with 10 players flagged.

Maybe give Matheus Cunha (£8.2m) one more week, then…

“That’s probably the first time I looked at the team and thought it lacked belief. I didn’t feel for one second it was a team or a group that ever believed that they could come here and get a result and that is hugely disappointing.” – Scott Parker, via the Burnley Express