FORMER CELTIC O'RILEY CROCKED AFTER JUST 9 MINS

Former Celtic favourite Matt O'Riley has suffered a painful start to life at Brighton as he was helped off the pitch with a serious injury just nine minutes into his debut last night.

The 23-year-old was only unveiled as a new Brighton signing on Monday, joining the Premier League club from Scottish champions Celtic in a deal worth no less than £25million.

O'Riley was immediately thrown into Brighton's starting lineup as one of 11 Brighton changes from last weekend's last-gasp 2-1 Premier League win over Man United.

However, the midfielder had his debut cut short by a late, crunching tackle from Crawley captain Jay Williams, and he required lengthy treatment on his left ankle before he was helped off the pitch by a pair of Brighton medics.

Brighton gaffer Fabian Hurzeler was left raging by the challenge and has since indicated that further assessments must take place to determine the full extent of O'Riley's injury.

Speaking to reporters after the match, Hurzeler said: "I think after this foul the players could tackle like they want, because there was no yellow card. For me it was a clear red.

"You can't tackle like this. You can be hard, and you can be ruthless, but you can't recklessly injure another player. He (Williams) was way too late.

"It doesn't look good, to be honest. Matt [O'Riley] said to me he couldn't put any weight on his ankle, so it's not looking good. I hope it's not as bad as it looks. We're going to have to wait for the scan on his ankle to come back."

Crawley manager Scott Lindsey has since apologised for the tackle by his captain, who was not booked for the initial challenge on O'Riley but received a yellow later in the contest for a different incident and was the subject of persistent boos from the Brighton supporters throughout the remainder of the match.

"Maybe we were a bit aggressive, maybe the referee missed the tackle and I'd like to apologise," Lindsey told reporters. "I wouldn't want anyone to get hurt. We're both passionate about the game and we wish Brighton all the best in the next round."