Brighton & Hove Albion boss Chris Hughton has confirmed that midfielder Steve Sidwell will be out of action for two months with injury.

Sidwell recently underwent a surgery to alleviate a recurring back injury and manager Hughton has revealed that the veteran midfielder will now need at least two months to return to full fitness.

Hughton told The Argus: "We're certainly looking at a couple of months. It's a blow firstly for him. He's a valuable member of our squad, particularly in that midfield area with Kayal being out.

"When we lost Kayal, we thought about whether we should bring somebody in but our thinking was very much we had good numbers in there, with Steve Sidwell being one of them.

"That's a disappointment but we can work around that. Pascal (Gross) is primarily a midfield player who has played a little bit more advanced and Izzy Brown is back shortly but it's a real disappointment."