Brighton & Hove Albion head coach Roberto De Zerbi has revealed that left-back Pervis Estupinan will be sidelined for a month with a muscle injury.
The 25-year-old, who is Brighton's only recognised left-back, has been an integral member of the Seagulls side that have come on leaps and bounds under the tutelage of De Zerbi over the last 12 months.
Estupinan made a bright start to the new season and established himself as a key attacking outlet down the left flank, scoring once and registering three assists in his opening five Premier League appearances.
However, the Ecuador international had a game to forget last weekend when he scored a first-half own goal in Brighton's 6-1 drubbing by Aston Villa before being withdrawn at half time.
It has since been made clear that Estupinan's withdrawal was due to an injury picked up at Villa Park rather than for tactical reasons, and De Zerbi confirmed the disappointing news ahead of Brighton's Europa League clash away against Marseille on Thursday.
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"[Estupinan is] injured and can't play for a month," De Zerbi told reporters at a press conference on Wednesday. "He's an important player we are losing, but we can play in that position with Tariq Lamptey, Igor Julio and other players.
"We have to be ready to change. We have to be good enough to get the result without important players."
Brighton could also be without Pascal Gross, James Milner and Adam Lallana for the trip to France, as all three midfielders are injury doubts and will be assessed ahead of kickoff.
Gross and Milner have missed the last three games in all competitions with muscle injuries, while Lallana missed the defeat at Villa with an unspecified problem.
"I have to decide tomorrow morning," De Zerbi added. "It's a very important game, but I can't take a risk on someone like Pascal."
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De Zerbi has acknowledged that he and his Brighton squad "have to adapt" to the rigours of managing European and domestic duties and has insisted that rotation is a must to prevent injury and fatigue.
"If you play with the same eight or 11 you can play better. But I have to do it," said the Italian. "Lewis Dunk played in the national team, then at Old Trafford, then we lost him for a very important game.
"I don't want to decide to put my focus on the Premier League or Europa League, we have to compete every game. But we have many difficult situations. Solly March finished last season injured. At the beginning of this season we had to manage him, Pascal Gross the same.
"Adam Webster and Danny Welbeck, I have to manage them with big attention as they can't play two games in three days. We have to adapt. I think if we reach the European competition next year it will be different."
Brighton suffered a 3-2 home defeat on their European debut to AEK Athens two weeks ago and will be seeking to return to winning ways when they face a Marseille side who played out a 3-3 draw with Ajax in their opening Group B fixture.
Oliver Thomas
