Brighton defender Jan Paul van Hecke admits he's pinching himself over the prospect of facing Roma this week.

Brighton and Roma are to meet in the first-leg of their Europa League round 16 tie.

Van Hecke told the club's website: "When you look at the draw, sometimes it seems a bit unreal to see Brighton drawn against Roma. It's really special to go to the Stadio Olimpico and it's special for all of us.

"There are big stadiums in the Europa League and you play against big teams. With the draw you never know who will be in front and so you hope to play a good match and we did. So we hope to move on to the next round."

On the challenge of marking Romelu Lukaku, he added: "He is a great striker and he has already won many trophies but it's nice to play against the best to test myself. I can't wait to do it."