Brighton will hope to have full back Mats Wieffer available this week following a knee issue.

Wieffer, 26, sustained the injury in the 4-3 loss at Chelsea last August and has not featured since.

Ferdi Kadioglu has performed well at right back in Wieffer's absence, while summer arrival Costinha is also an option.

Wieffer's return is will though be a boost for head coach Fabian Hurzeler as Brighton juggle the demands of Premier League, Conference League and the domestic cups.

Versatile Wieffer

The Dutchman has been converted to a right back by Hurzeler since his £25m arrival from Feyenoord but Wieffer can also operate in the central midfield role.

Brighton - who are third in the Premier League after their 5-0 win against Crystal Palace - are back in action this Thursday in the Conference League at Czech Republic outfit FK Jablonec.

The Seagulls then face Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday in the Premier League.

"I think he's getting closer," said Hurzeler to Sussex World as he addressed Wieffer's six-match absence prior to the Crystal Palace match.

"So not for this weekend [Crystal Palace], but then afterwards there will definitely be an option where we see him taking part in the game."

Brighton have a number of other injury concerns with Evan Ferguson (ankle), Stefanos Tzimas (knee), Kaoru Mitoma (thigh), Femi Azeez (thigh), Psacal Struijk (thigh), Yankuba Minteh (leg) and Zadok Yohanna (unspecified) all unavailable.

Minteh and Azeez closer

Minteh is nearing a return as is deadline day arrival Azeez.

Hurzeler added: “No big issue [for Azeez]. Some players need more time to adapt to the intensity, it's a little bit similar to Zadok.

“We try to give them the environment where they can adapt to our demands, to how we want to play.

“Therefore these kind of players might need a little bit longer. But overall there's not a big issue.

“So it's just a thing of adapting and let's see how fast he will adapt and I'm sure he will make his first minutes for us quite soon.”