Danny Welbeck absence for Brighton explained and potential return date ahead of Fulham

Welbeck was out of the matchday squad for today's 1-1 draw at old rivals Crystal Palace and looks set to miss next Saturday's match against Fulham and possibly the fifth round FA Cup tie at Stoke on February 28.

Welbeck was withdrawn during the second half of last week's 1-0 win against Bournemouth and departed with heavy strapping around his calf and shin.

Speaking after the frustrating draw at Palace, Albion head coach De Zerbi said: "It is an injury for a couple of weeks but it is not a big problem. It is a calf injury."

Brighton missed a number of chances to seal three points at Selhurst Park as a goalkeeping error from Rob Sanchez allowed home defender James Tomkins to cancel-out Solly March's opener.

De Zerbi added, "Robert is a fantastic goalkeeper. He can make mistakes for sure, it’s not a problem. I make more mistakes than him, for this it is not a problem for me.”

Brighton thought they had gone ahead when Pervis Estupinan curled into the top corner after 32 minutes but saw it disallowed after a VAR check determined there was an offside in the build-up.

Palace keeper Vicente Guaita made several good stops to keep his side in the game but De Zerbi was still pleased with how his sixth-placed side performed.

The Italian also sounded more assured about Brighton’s chances of playing European football next season.

He said: “We are playing fantastic football. I think it was one of the best games with my time.

“We made a lot of mistakes to score when we had the chances to score but we have to be clear to analyse this game.

“We can be frustrated but we have to be proud. We have to be happy because like this we can fight for a place in Europe. If we continue like this we can fight.”