FA Cup Wolves v Brighton: Seagulls dealt big injury blow ahead of Molineux tie
Brighton have been dealt a huge blow ahead of their crunch FA Cup trip to Molineux as star winger Kaoru Mitoma is expected to miss the rest of the season with a back injury.
The 26-year-old missed the Seagulls’ 1-1 draw with Everton at the weekend.
And now head coach Roberto de Zerbi has confirmed the Japanese international’s season is over.
He said: “It’s an important problem. I think two or three months, (so) finished (for) the season.
“It’s the back injury which kept him out against Everton.”
Mitoma played a starring role in Brighton’s season last year, as the Seagulls qualified for the Europa League.
But this season the attacker has already endured frustrating injuries.
Towards the end of 2023 he was out for a month after an ankle injury, which kept him sidelined for the majority of the Asia Cup.
He only returned on the bench for Japan’s final two matches as they were knocked out by Iran in the semi-finals.
Alongside the blow of losing Mitoma, Brighton also have other injury issues to deal with ahead of the clash with Wolves, as they fight on three fronts in the Premier League, Europa League and FA Cup.
De Zerbi confirmed strikers Evan Ferguson and Joao Pedro will miss out.
Meanwhile, Joal Veltman and Danny Welbeck are huge doubts for the game and will have late fitness tests.
De Zerbi said: “Wolves are a very good team, playing very well. I watched a lot of their last games.
“We keep working with enthusiasm, with pride. Try to transform the problem into opportunities, like we have done until this moment. Don’t worry, we fight to try to win the game, at Fulham the same, in Rome the same.”
