Diego Gomez said he feels "really fresh" for Brighton & Hove Albion's upcoming matches against Manchester City. Brighton are due at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday for a Carabao Cup Round of 16 tie and return there on Saturday for a Premier League game.
Gomez on his preparation
Gomez said on the club's official website: "We know that these are two very difficult away games. The coach spoke to me and said he wanted to keep me back more for these matches. Obviously I wanted to play (at Jablonec) but it’s the coach’s decision."
The midfielder added: "Now I feel really fresh to tackle these games which are coming and which are very important. It was the coach’s decision and I went along with his decision because I needed the rest with so many games coming up, but now I’m focused on the games this week."
Recent selection
Gomez sat out Brighton's UEFA Conference League stalemate against FK Jablonec. He returned in Brighton's 2-0 loss to Liverpool on Sunday.
His view on the Liverpool defeat
Gomez added when discussing the 2-0 defeat: "I thought we had the ball a lot in the first half and we had a lot of chances to score. We were just missing some clarity on the final pass but we are already thinking about the next games and how to improve. In the second half they had a very good, compact defence. We still kept trying to create chances but there are things to work on."
League Cup meeting
Wednesday's Carabao Cup tie is only the second time Brighton and Manchester City have met in the League Cup. Brighton beat Manchester City on penalties after a 2-2 draw at the Withdean Stadium in their previous League Cup meeting in 2008.