When Brighton embarked on their inaugural European campaign, their Achilles heel in both Europe and the league was insufficient squad depth. It led to an early collapse in the Europa League and an uninspired mid-table league finish.

Fast-forward to today, with The Seagulls back in Europe, and it’s seemingly the opposite story. Brighton are flying high in both the Premier League and the Conference League and are one of the most exciting and talked-about teams in world football. They also have remarkable squad depth, which leaves many questions about how easily injured players can walk back into the side.

After a promising start in both the league and Europe, the success of Roberto De Zerbi’s Brighton began to unravel when an injury crisis exposed a weakness in the Albion Squad's core. It led to an early exit from the Europa League knockout stage, a 4-1 aggregate thrashing over two legs by Italian giants Roma, and a downturn in league form, with Brighton winning just three of their final 15 league games. De Zerbi left the club at the end of the season.

Brighton’s lack of depth was exposed, and heavier responsibilities fell on young, promising but inexperienced players.

It was clear after the latter half of that season that any future European endeavours would need a strengthened backbone alongside a strong first team.

After De Zerbi’s departure, the young and up and coming Fabian Hürzeler was brought in from 2. Bundesliga champions St. Pauli. Following heavy investment and a bumpy road to this season, his Albion side are finally reaping the rewards of a top-quality first team paired with depth made up of both experience and up-and-coming talent.

An undoubtedly huge reason behind Brighton’s resurgence was the return of Pascal Groß in January.

He quickly proved the naysayers wrong, showing time and time again that he is still capable of his best, and he has become an integral part of the squad once again. Albion fans are wondering when on earth he is going to get a rest, as he has started every single league game so far this season.

Pascal Struijk and Olivier Boscagli have also become valuable squad players at the back. Boscagli in particular has had a new lease of life at left back, playing a far more important role after his frustrations over a lack of minutes last season.

Jaouen Hadjam and Costinha were both signed in the summer for peanuts, with no real fanfare around them, but they’ve kicked on and been pleasant surprises. Hadjam scored in his first minute of Premier League football, and Costinha recovered from a relatively shaky start to quietly go about his business, putting in quality shifts, especially in keeping Jérémy Doku quiet in the league game away at Man City.

The introductions of Luka Vušković and Chema Andrés to the first team have been massive boosts, and Malick Yalcouyé has joined the squad after a couple of loans, bringing heaps of talent and promise.

An upturn in form for Diego Gómez and Maxim De Cuyper’s move to left wing have Brighton firing on all fronts, and they pose an interesting question.

Brighton have notoriously struggled with injuries over the last few seasons, and replacing those sidelined has always caused the Albion issues. Now there’s arguably the opposite problem: how are the injured going to get straight back into the starting eleven?

Kaoru Mitoma and Yankuba Minteh are both at the end of long-term injuries, and both had their status as starting wingers taken for granted.

Now, though, there are Maxim De Cuyper and Diego Gómez respectively, both in the form of their lives. De Cuyper has created five goals this season and has started every league game. Gómez has stolen headlines during his stint on the right wing, scoring two Goal of the Season nominees, with his performances improving massively of late.

Mitoma and Minteh will have a harder time returning to the starting eleven than they may have bargained for, which speaks volumes about the club’s current depth.

A similar issue is arising with strikers. When everyone is fit, Brighton will have five strikers capable of playing in that position: Babis Kostoulas, Georginio, Promise David, Stefanos Tzimas and Evan Ferguson. That creates a similar selection headache.

Promise David has barely been able to break into the Albion squad as it is, with Kostoulas and Georginio mainly rotating duties up top.

With two more players coming back into consideration by the end of the year, it makes you wonder how on earth everyone is meant to get satisfactory minutes. Kostoulas has struggled with his finishing in the last couple of games, and it will be interesting to see how competitive his position becomes when Tzimas and potentially even Ferguson are back gunning for minutes.

Brighton do have a new kind of injury problem, but it’s a nice problem to have: when considering how much depth will be needed if they want to achieve their goals in all competitions, the more the merrier, with strong numbers being the biggest importance in aiming to compete and potentially win the competitions in front of them.