Albion goalkeeper Kjell Scherpen is facing another lay-off.

The Dutchman on loan to Sturm Graz has been booked in for a follow-up knee procedure.

Previously ever present, he missed the Champions League clash against Girona and will remain absent until play resumes after the winter break.

Scherpen missed the second half of last season, when he was also loan at Sturm.

The Graz club’s sporting director Michael Parensen said: “After Kjell Scherpen's knee surgery last year, it was always planned to carry out a minimally invasive procedure for minor corrections.

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“In consultation with Kjell's home club Brighton, we will now bring forward this date - originally scheduled for the beginning of December - to ensure that Kjell is fully available to us again in January.”

Scherpen, 23, is under contract with Albion until 2027.

He is one of an array of goalkeepers on the books with James Beadle (Sheffield Wednesday), Carl Rushworth (Hull) and Tom McGill (MK Dons) all out on loan in the EFL.

Midfielder Malick Yalcouye, also on loan to Sturm from the Seagulls, impressed again as Girona were beaten 1-0 to secure the Austrian league leaders’ first points of the Champions League campaign.

Sturm are currently five point clear at the top of the Bundesliga.