'Twisted fingers' - Neal Maupay explains 'painful' injury after preseason brace in Portugal

Neal Maupay scored a brace in Albion's preseason friendly victory against Estoril

Neal Maupay scored twice for Brighton as they ended a successful pre-season training camp in Portugal with a 4-1 friendly win against Estoril on Saturday evening.

Maupay netted two early goals, before new additions Deniz Undav and Kaoru Mitoma completed the scoring against their Portuguese opponents.

Maupay has looked sharp in preaseason but there was a moment of worry just after he scored his second.

"I twisted my fingers a bit," explained the Frenchman.

"It was painful but I get through it. I need more than that to stop me."

Maupay – Albion's leading scorer last season with nine goals in all competitions – is now looking forward to returning to the south coast and preparing for Albion's opening match of the new Premier League season against Manchester United at Old Trafford on August 7.

“Pre-season is good but I don’t pay too much attention to results in pre-season because you can win every game and then you start the league season and lose, so it doesn’t matter.

“It’s certainly good to be in good shape and be ready, as well as have clear ideas on what we want to do and want to achieve this season.”

Prior to the Man United match Albion have two further preseason friendlies starting this Saturday against Reading on July 23, followed by Espanyol at the Amex Stadium on July 30.

Head coach Graham Potter said: “It’s been a really positive week, we’ve worked really well and got to know each other a bit better.

“We’ve still got three weeks to go before the opening game, but we’re getting clearer."