FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Europa League - Group B - Brighton & Hove Albion v Ajax Amsterdam - The American Express Community Stadium, Brighton, Britain - October 26, 2023 Brighton & Hove Albion's Ansu Fati in action with Ajax Amsterdam's Steven Berghuis Action Images via Reuters/Matthew Childs
(Reuters) - Brighton & Hove Albion forward Ansu Fati and defender Tariq Lamptey will both be sidelined for a significant period after picking up injuries at the weekend, manager Roberto De Zerbi said.
Lamptey and Barcelona loanee Fati went down injured in the first half of Brighton's 3-2 victory at Nottingham Forest on Saturday, when they ended their six-game winless run in the Premier League.
Brighton, who face AEK Athens in the Europa League later on Thursday, have been struggling with a number of key players out of action, including Kaoru Mitoma, Danny Welbeck, Solly March and Julio Enciso.
"Ansu and Lamptey are both injured," Italian De Zebri told reporters on Wednesday.
"We have lost them for a long time, I think."
Brighton are second in Group B on seven points from four games, a point behind Marseille. They lost to AEK in their campaign opener but have the chance to make up for that defeat in Athens.
The lengthy injury list makes their task harder but De Zebri said they had to focus on the players who are fit.
"We will have to compete," he added. "I don't know if we will win, but we will fight to win the game for sure."
(Reporting by Pearl Josephine Nazare in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
