Matt O’Riley limped out of his Brighton debut on Tuesday (Picture: Getty Images)

New Brighton signing Matt O’Riley requires surgery on his ankle after a nightmare start to his career with the Seagulls.

The summer signing from Celtic only signed for Brighton on Monday and was handed his debut on Tuesday night in the Carabao Cup against Crawley Town.

Just nine minutes into his first appearance for the club he was on the wrong end of a heavy challenge from Crawley captain Jay Williams and had to be taken off as a result.

The £25m new arrival will now face an operation, with Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler unsure of when he will be back in action.

‘It’s like we expected, a bad injury,’ said the German at a press conference on Thursday. ‘He needs surgery on his ankle.
‘I can’t say how long we expect him to be out, we have to look how the rehab will go. But of course it’s a tough one for us, we try to support him the best way we can.We try to get him as fast as possible back on the pitch and let’s hope he will be back soon.

‘I had a small chat with him yesterday, it’s not the best situation, he’s very disappointed but he’s a good character, a very positive guy and looks immediately in the future. He says he’ll be back soon and come back stronger and that’s a very positive thing.’

Fabian Hurzeler has impressed as Brighton boss so far (Picture: Getty Images)

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