Can Brighton’s squad withstand the test of Tromso and have a crack at the Conference League?

Brighton & Hove Albion must be careful that the chill of winter does not arrive much earlier than normal for them this season in the Conference League.

They face Norwegian side Tromso — based inside the Arctic Circle — in the play-off round of the competition over two legs later this month.

They have known for a week who the opponents would almost certainly be, following Tromso’s 5-0 third qualifying round first-leg win over Cluj in Romania which turned Thursday night’s home leg into a formality. They won that second leg 2-1, cruising through 7-1 on aggregate.

Tromso’s substantial first-leg cushion did at least provide Brighton head coach Fabian Hurzeler and his staff with a bit more time to prepare for the tests that await them. They visit the outpost in northern Norway on August 20. The second leg is at the Amex on August 27, the two legs sandwiching their opening Premier League fixture at home to Aston Villa on August 23.

Brighton have made strong starts in each of Hurzeler’s campaigns to date — 15 and 12 points in 2024 and 2025 respectively in the first eight league games, coupled with progress through the early rounds of the Carabao Cup. Coming out of the blocks quickly again is crucial, because an immediate exit from Europe could have damaging repercussions for the rest of the season.

The squad building this summer is based on the assumption of requiring a bigger group of players to cope with the extra strain of playing in Europe and the accompanying need for Hurzeler to have scope to rotate his line-ups for Thursday ties in the Conference League, with a quick turnaround for Sunday matches in the Premier League.

This will happen on six occasions from October through to December, but only if the tie against Tromso is safely negotiated to set up three home matches and three away in the league phase. Reaching the knockout stages in the New Year could lead to up to 17 extra games in total this season for Hurzeler’s squad if they made it all the way through to the final at the Besiktas Stadium in Istanbul on June 2.

The flip side of this scenario would leave Hurzeler having to manage fringe members of the squad with itchy feet, their match-minutes prospects limited in the first half of the season to the Premier League and the Carabao Cup (Brighton will not enter that competition until the third round due to their European campaign). It would also lead to a potential revision of plans for young players such as wingers Ibrahim Osman and Amario Cozier-Duberry, loaning them out again instead of staying in-house.

There are multiple red flags attached to the tie with Tromso. For starters, Hurzeler will be without several injured players — notably Kaoru Mitoma, Carlos Baleba, Stefanos Tzimas and Evan Ferguson. Yankuba Minteh could be added to that list following an injury to his right leg sustained in Saturday’s 3-0 friendly win at home to Roma. The squad rebuild is still a work in progress until the summer window shuts on September 1.

Yankuba Minteh goes down with an injury during Saturday’s friendly against Roma (Steve Bardens/Getty Images)

Tromso, the northernmost football club in the world to win a major national trophy, having lifted the Norwegian Cup in 1986 and 1996, are tricky opponents. Their top-flight season in Eliteserien started in April, so they have a fitness and match-sharpness advantage. They finished third last season to qualify and currently lie third in the table of 16 teams after 16 games, seven points adrift of leaders Bodo/Glimt with a game in hand.

Hurzeler, 33, faces another up-and-coming young coach in 36-year-old Jorgen Vik, who joined Tromso as assistant in 2021 before stepping into the main job in 2024. Vik, his players and home supporters will be relishing Brighton’s visit to the Romssa Arena, with a capacity of less than 6,700 and an artificial pitch as an added layer of complication.

Heine Larsen is a threat from midfield with seven goals and an assist in the league this season. Tromso coped in the away leg against Cluj without 20-year-old Jens Hjerto-Dahl, who was in the process of completing a move to the Premier League with promoted Hull for an undisclosed fee on a five-year deal.

Tromso dropped into the Conference League after losing 4-1 on aggregate to Czech Republic side Hradec Kralove in the Europa League second qualifying round, which exposed their vulnerabilities.

No fewer than six Brighton players feature in the most valuable XI in Conference League qualifying, according to Transfermarkt. They will be among the overall favourites to lift the first major silverware in their 125-year history, building on the successes in the competition of West Ham in 2023, Chelsea in 2025 and rivals Crystal Palace last season. That in itself increases the pressure to avoid an early slip-up.

“I want to face this challenge by, first of all, having a really good squad,” said Hurzeler, speaking at a fans’ forum at the Amex last week. “We have a strong squad, we have a bigger squad than last season.

“We have a squad that is capable of playing three times a week. And we see it more as an opportunity to give more players a chance to play. We know there might be some things we have to handle with Europe and the Premier League competition, but we are looking forward to it and see it as an opportunity for young players, but also for us as a club to express our style of play in Europe.”

The first hurdle against Tromso could be as tough as any. Palace squeezed through 1-0 on aggregate against Norwegian side Fredrikstad and Chelsea edged past Swiss team Servette 3-2 on aggregate at the same stage of their respective triumphs in the competition. Brighton must do the same if this season is to unfold as the club has planned.