'Hugely disappointing' Brighton chairman blasts 'horror' tackle on £25m former Celtic ace

Brighton and Hove Albion chairman Tony Bloom was not happy with the injury that former Celtic midfielder Matt O’Riley recently suffered - he described the tackle that caused it as a ‘horror challenge’ and was ‘hugely disappointed’ as a result.

Nevertheless, faith is still high in O’Riley at the Falmer Stadium - Bloom mentioned that ‘we are all really looking forward to seeing him back at the later part of the year.’

Speaking on the Albion podcast, Bloom said: “We are hugely disappointed with that horror challenge on Matt O’Riley. He had his operation today [on Monday] and that has been successful.

“We are all really looking forward to seeing him back at the later part of the year. It's really important to bring the right players with the right personality. From what I have seen and from what I have heard, everyone is fitting in well.”

During a game against Crawley Town in the second round of the EFL Cup, O’Riley was on the receiving end of a crunching tackle from Jay Williams in just the sixth minute of the encounter. As a result, O’Riley limped off the field and is now out of action after undergoing surgery on his ankle.

On the tackle, Seagulls boss Fabian Hurzeler said [via BBC Sport]: “It is like we expected, it is a bad injury and he needs surgery on his ankle. I can’t say how long or when we expect him to be back because of rehabilitation. It is a tough one for us but we will try to support him the best we can.”

O’Riley signed for Brighton from Celtic in the summer transfer window for a fee of £25 million. During his time with the Bhoys, the Danish international made 93 Scottish Premiership appearances, scoring a total of 25 goals along the way.