ALBION will take no risks with Beram Kayal after his goalscoring comeback in the FA Cup.

The influential Israeli scored nine minutes into his return from 15 weeks out with a fractured ankle in the 2-0 win against League One MK Dons in the third round at the Amex.

Injury-plagued Kayal is unlikely to be fast-tracked straight back into the starting line-up when the table-topping Seagulls resume their Championship promotion challenge at Preston on Saturday.

Boss Chris Hughton told The Argus: “In an Ideal world we would have liked him to have had at least one or a couple of under-23 games but, with the way the fixtures fell, that wasn’t possible. This was our first opportunity.

“We’ll have to see how he is, but what we also have to be conscious of is that we want Beram for the season, not just for the immediate future. We will be guided by our medical and sports science staff, but it is good to have him back.”

An emotional Kayal, back from the seventh op of his career, celebrated his first goal for 11 months by holding his head in his hands.

The midfielder, who was hurt in the home game against Barnsley in September, said: “You begin to feel it is bad luck. Every time you are getting to some stage, you want to go forward and you want to help yourself and help your team, and then the injury comes from nowhere.

“Everyone said it would be about two or three weeks. It wasn’t a tackle, somebody just fell down on my legs. This happened before when I was at Celtic. In the first minute of a game I broke my foot, so sometimes you just feel something is not right. So I’m happy now.

“I’m happy to be back and involved again. Me and Liam Rosenior are back from long-term injuries and we need to try to help the team going forward. But I’m a Brighton player for the next three years. Nothing is going to change in a week or two weeks.

“The gaffer knows me very well, how hungry I am and how much I want to play. From the other side, he tries to control everything and I respect that.

“The team are doing very well, top of the league. The only thing we can do is keep going together, all of us, with great spirit, and with my experience I’m coming back to help.”