Matt O’Riley’s struggles continue after the former Celtic midfielder was left out of Brighton’s squad for their cup match against Newcastle.
The £25 million summer signing has found life in England challenging, despite flashes of his quality, including a match-winning goal against Manchester City. However, injuries and setbacks have hampered his progress, and now, manager Fabian Hürzeler has confirmed that O’Riley is dealing with a knee issue after recovering from illness.
Speaking about the Dane’s absence, Hürzeler said: “Matt O’Riley is over his illness, but we have to take care of his knee issue. We have to see if he can train. Lewis Dunk is closer, but still not an option.” [BBC]
O’Riley’s Brighton career got off to a nightmare start, suffering a serious ankle injury on his debut, which kept him out for weeks. Since then, he’s struggled for consistency, recently finding himself on the bench without featuring in Brighton’s last two league games before missing out entirely against Newcastle.
Despite the setbacks, O’Riley has shown glimpses of his talent, and Brighton fans will be hoping he can shake off his injury troubles and get back to the form that made him a star at Celtic.
Brighton did seem like a good move for him, at the time, but now, over 6 months into his time with the Seagulls, he’ll be wondering what could’ve been had he chosen a different option. He’ll be keen to get over this latest setback, though.
