Matt O'Riley injury update as Brighton boss slams 'ridiculous' challenge that cut short ex Celtic star's debut

Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler has slammed the 'ridiculous' challenge that saw new signing Matt O'Riley's debut brought to an abrupt end after just nine minutes of play against Crawley Town.

The midfielder completed his £25million switch from Celtic on Monday, and was launched straight into action in Tuesday night's League Cup tie against the EFL League One side. But with less than 10 minutes on the clock, O'Riley limped off after being on the end of a heavy tackle from Crawley captain Jay Williams as he carried the ball into the opposition half.

The former Hoops star had to be helped off the pitch by Brighton's medical team, with new German manager Hurzeler forced into making an early substitution, replacing the 23-year-old with midfielder Mark O'Mahony. Premier League side Brighton went onto win the tie 3-0, but after the game a seething Hurzeler tore into the challenge that cut short O'Riley's debut and admits that the severity of the injury has him seriously concerned.

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's tough to deal with it but it's part of football. It shouldn't be, fouls like this. This is not the way we should behave on the pitch."

Crawley gaffer Scott Lindsey apologised for his team's aggressive approach and the tackle, which Williams escaped unpunished for. He stated: "Maybe we were a bit aggressive, maybe the referee missed it