27 February 2024 , 15:40
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Brighton star Kaoru Mitoma is expected to miss the rest of the season after suffering a serious back injury.
Mitoma has been a key player for Brighton this season, contributing three goals and six assists in 26 appearances across all competitions. The 26-year-old winger missed the Seagulls’ 1-1 draw against Everton on Saturday and has now received the prognosis from the club’s medical staff.
“It’s a bad, bad situation. I think we lost Mitoma until the end of the season,” Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi said on Tuesday. “It’s a back injury. It’s an important problem – I think two or three months, [he’s] finished [for] the season.”
The injury is a cruel blow for Brighton and Mitoma, who thankfully managed to escape serious injury from Mason Holgate’s dreadful challenge in his last appearance. Holgate was sent off after a VAR review for catching the Japan international with a high lunge early on in Sheffield United’s 5-0 thrashing on February 18.
Mitoma previously missed three matches in December and January with an ankle injury, which led up to his involvement with Japan in the Asia Cup. He played in Japan’s last-16 and quarter-final matches in the tournament, but will likely have no further involvement for club or country this season.
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De Zerbi was speaking ahead of Brighton’s FA Cup fifth-round tie against Wolves on Wednesday. The Italian will also be without striker Evan Ferguson and defender Joel Veltman, while there will be a late check on forward Danny Welbeck
Asked about the setbacks, he said: “I’m not frustrated. It can happen in football, but this situation has never changed from September until now. We will work with enthusiasm and with pride to try to transform the problems into opportunities like we have done until this moment.
Kaoru Mitoma will be a big miss for Brighton (Robbie Jay Barratt/Getty Images)“For sure, if you ask me what the target is – the target was to compete with not all the players because we can’t have all players available. But don’t worry because tomorrow we’ll fight to try and win the game, the same at Fulham and the same in Rome in the Europa League."
Brighton are seventh in the Premier League, five points behind Manchester United in sixth. The injuries come at a bad time, with a busy period of fixtures on the horizon against Wolves in the FA Cup, Fulham in the Premier League on Saturday and Roma in the first leg of their Europa League last-16 tie on March 7.
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