Brighton boss gives injury update on latest signing after "ridiculous" Crawley challenge
Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler has been fiercely critical of a “ridiculous” challenge that has left new signing sidelined through injury.
Midfielder Matt O’Riley joined Brighton at the start of this week for £25m from Celtic, and featured in yesterday’s (August 27) League Cup match against Crawley Town.
But just nine minutes into the game, O’Riley was forced to limp off the pitch after a challenge from Crawley captain Jay Williams - who winked at Brighton defender Adam Webster as he was scolded by the referee. The medical team had to help the 23-year-old off the pitch as Hurzeler replaced him with midfielder Mark O'Mahony.
Brighton won the game 3-0, but the Seagulls’ manager was visibly frustrated with how his new arrival had been taken out of the contest.
He said: “It doesn’t look good, to be honest. I think it was a really tough game. I was not happy with the performance. We can play better but you have to win tough, dirty games. It was a tough challenge.
“Ridiculous foul. It has nothing to do with football. This situation, it changed the game as afterwards it was emotional. I hope it is not so bad. I think it is easy to apologise, in the end we can't fix the player.”
It is not known how severe O’Riley’s injury currently is - nor how long he expected to be out for.
Speaking about the challenge, Crawley manager Scott Lindsey said: “Maybe we were a bit aggressive, maybe the referee missed it and I would like to apologise. I wouldn't want anyone to be hurt.
“We are both passionate about the game and we wish Brighton all the best in the next round.”