Solly March has suffered a minor setback in his quest for full match fitness.

March was due to play for the under-21s against Arsenal at the Amex last night. He was pulled out of the fixture as a precaution because of slight soreness following his brief return to first team action at the weekend.

March played the last 12 minutes of the 2-1 home defeat by Fulham in place of Elliott Bennett. It was the versatile England under-21 playmaker’s first appearance since suffering a stress fracture of the back in a pre-season friendly at Crawley in July.

Albion are treading carefully with March, who could still be involved again on the bench at leaders Derby County on Saturday.

The Seagulls’ development side, bolstered by Danny Holla, Paddy McCourt and Nzuzi Toko as over-aged players, were hammered 4-0 by an impressive young Arsenal team guided by ex-Albion defender Steve Gatting.