Brighton's Fabian Hurzeler is unsure about the timing of the return of the injured James Milner: “We have to be patient”

James Milner will be out for an indefinite period at Brighton & Hove Albion, confirmed head coach Fabian Hurzeler.

Milner, 38, will miss Saturday's home game against Ipswich Town due to a thigh injury which forced him off in the 17th minute of the 1-1 draw at Arsenal before the international break.

At his press conference on Thursday morning, Hurzeler said: “James has been examined. It's not a big problem, but we have to take him day by day. We have to see how quickly he can play without problems. So we have to go step by step.”

When asked whether Milner would be out for a few weeks, Hurzeler replied: “That could be. It's a question where you can't estimate whether it will be two weeks, three weeks or just one week. We have to be patient.”

Milner made his 637th career Premier League appearance for Arsenal, putting him just 16 games away from equalling Gareth Barry's record of 653 appearances.

The former England international joined Brighton on a free transfer from Liverpool in 2023 and has since made 23 appearances for the south coast club.

(Simon Stacpoole/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)