Brighton star striker seen leaving stadium in crutches after horror tackle from Liverpool's Fabinho - Roberto De Zerbi unsure on severity

The Irishman looked visibly distressed after the incident which came shortly before Karou Mitoma’s last-gasp winner for Albion.

Ferguson, 18, was seen leaving the dressing room in crutches. Fabinho, who had only just been substituted into the game, avoided a red card despite a VAR check for serious foul play after the reckless tackle from behind.

Roberto De Zerbi, speaking in his post-match press conference, chose not to criticise the player or the officials.

"I don’t like to speak [about the decision]," he said. “Against Leicester there was a very clear penalty and Aston Villa the same.

"I don’t want to talk about the fouls. I’m sure he [Fabinho] is an honest player. On the pitch this can happen, this foul, this accident.”

The Italian was asked if he knew how serious the injury was.

He replied: "No we will see in the next days if it’s an important injury or not.”

De Zerbi was delighted with Brighton’s victory but feels they have a long way to go to reach the level of the league’s biggest teams.

"We are a good team but I think we are not like Manchester City, Manchester United, Arsenal, Tottenham, Liverpool, Chelsea,” he said. “Not the same level but we want to improve.

"We want to fight in the last part of the season to arrive in this place. At the moment we are playing well.

"On the table we stay sixth, but we can improve the table. We are showing a good level to have a dream. I can say what I want, on the pitch is the proof.”

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