English-born defender Tariq Lamptey has suffered an injury setback just as he was close to making a return after almost two months out since sustaining an injury against Fulham in December 2020.

He was expected to feature for relegation-threatened Brighton this weekend in their crunch game against Leicester City but that is now not possible.

Tariq had been training with the Brighton first-team squad but has now been withdrawn as he has suffered a setback.

This was made known by his coach Graham Potter during Thursday's pre-match press conference ahead of their crunch weekend game.

“Tariq won't be fit, he had a little setback this week and we need to get to the bottom of that."

"It's a problem with his hamstring. He's seeing a specialist and he's not available for the weekend,” Brighton manager Graham Potter said in a pre-match interview on Thursday.

Lamptey joined The Seagulls from Chelsea in January last year, leaving Stamford Bridge in search of regular action, and has made 11 appearances this season in the Premier League with injury curtailing his season.

His form has attracted interest from the likes of Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Athletico Madrid, and other teams but signed a contract extension not long ago.