Albion midfielder Andrew Crofts has revealed that suffering serious knee damage for the second time in ten months came as a "nasty surprise".

The Welsh international thought the injury he sustained at Watford on October 4 was only minor.

Crofts said: "The first scans looked like it was only something minor and it wasn’t until the surgeon opened it up that he found a nasty surprise. That’s what made it harder to take.

"I'm a really positive person, but that first week was so tough. I'm over the initial shock now though, and just looking forward to working as hard as I can to come back next season. Obviously doing my knee isn't great, but there are a lot of people worse off than me.

"I'm six weeks post-op so it’s still the real early stages. To compare it to the first time I did it, that was quite smooth sailing and this one feels probably better than that did at this stage."

Crofts, 30, will not be travelling to Carrow Road on Saturday to watch Albion against his former club Norwich.

He said: "It's a little too far for me to travel with the knee – if I was a bit further down the line, I would have made the trip.

"It was one of the first fixtures I looked at when they came out, Brighton versus Norwich at Carrow Road.

"It was one I was really looking forward to. I had two great years there with some of my best memories in 
football. So I'm gutted I can't play in it."