Brighton & Hove Albion head coach Roberto De Zerbi has revealed that Adam Lallana is ruled out for "months" with a "big injury".
The 34-year-old has not played for the Seagulls since he was withdrawn in the 29th minute of the 1-1 draw away against Leicester City last month with a thigh problem.
Lallana is now facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines as De Zerbi has confirmed that the midfielder will be out for months rather than weeks with his latest setback.
The Italian has also revealed that Danny Welbeck (calf), Billy Gilmour (knock) and Levi Colwill (muscle) will all miss Saturday's Premier League clash at home against Fulham, while Jakub Moder remains out with an ACL injury.
Speaking at a press conference on Friday, De Zerbi said: "Lallana has a big injury. We lose him for a long time. Lallana's [injury] is a big problem. It is months not weeks.
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"Welbeck is not able to play. Colwill is also not ready but he could be back for the next game. We are ready, for us, it [Fulham clash] is a very important game."
Brighton head into Saturday's contest on a seven-game unbeaten run across all competitions, with five of those matches played in the Premier League.
The Seagulls were denied maximum points in the M23 derby against Crystal Palace last weekend, though, as a "human error" ruled out a first-half goal from Pervis Estupinan, who was wrongly ruled offside.
In contrast to Mikel Arteta, who stated that the VAR mistake in Arsenal's 1-1 draw with Brentford was "not acceptable", De Zerbi has affirmed that the error to disallow Brighton's goal is "not a problem".
"For me, sincerely it is not a problem. Referees are human like other people and can make mistakes," said De Zerbi. "I don't like if I have to criticise them because it is not my job. I'm sorry for the mistakes, for sure.
"I think we lost four or five points, not only Palace but with Aston Villa at home there was a clear, clear, clear penalty. And the same at Leicester. But it can happen, some mistakes.
"At the end of the season, I think the mistakes are not so important in terms of the table because there is a balance of mistakes. My problem is my team to play with a quality, a style and to try to win the game, only this."
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The 43-year-old added: "Referees are humans, VAR is technology, it is different. We hope football can improve through this technology.
"But I don't want to speak too much about referees. There are other people who want to take advantage about this. I don't like this in Italy, I don't like this in Ukraine, in the UK the same."
De Zerbi has also revealed that he welcomed the face-to-face meeting with PGMOL chief Howard Webb earlier this week, adding: "He is a good guy, he's an honest person and I appreciate that he showed his face.
"When there is a mistake, it's not easy to show your face. I told him there is no problem for me, my players, or my club. We don't want to put any pressure on referees.
"[VAR] should be better, no? The technology can and has to help the referee. At Palace it was like this and we can't change the result. Maybe if Pervis's goal had been allowed, we could still have lost the game. We don't know the other possibilities during the game."
Brighton, who sit sixth in the Premier League table, could move to within one point of fifth-placed Tottenham Hotspur if they beat fellow European chasers Fulham, who sit just below the Seagulls in seventh on goal difference.
Oliver Thomas
