Pervis Estupinan has been a big player for Brighton since joining from Villarreal (Picture: Getty Images)
Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi confirmed Pervis Estupinan will be out ‘for a long time’ in a blow for the Seagulls’ Premier League and Europa League campaigns.
The 25-year-old suffered a muscle injury during the surprising 6-1 defeat at Aston Villa last Saturday, during which Estupinan scored an own goal and was substituted at half-time.
The Ecuador international is set to be out for around a month, as announced by De Zerbi ahead of Brighton’s trip to Marseille in the Europa League on Thursday night.
‘He’s injured and can’t play for a long time,’ said the Brighton boss. ‘One month, more or less. I don’t know the right time but it’s a muscular injury and it is not for a game or two.
‘Unfortunately, it is an important player we are losing but we can play in that position with Tariq Lamptey, Igor Julio or others. We have to be ready with others.’
The Italian has been rotating his side to deal with domestic and European duties, with mixed success of late, but De Zerbi says recent losses are not down to changing his team.
‘We are not used to playing so many games in a row in the same week and we have to adapt,’ he said.
‘To adapt we have to change many players game by game. The defeats against West Ham and Aston Villa are not because I changed a lot of players. I believe in my players and my squad. We have enough to fight better.’
With Estupinan likely to be out for the rest of October he looks set to miss five matches, beginning with the trip to Marseille on Thursday.
The Seagulls have a tough run of fixtures as they host Liverpool and then travel to Manchester City in the Premier League before welcoming Ajax to the Amex in the Europa League.
Their final match of the month comes at home against Fulham on 29 October.
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