Sheffield United's Mason Holgate cleared of blame after major Brighton injury blow

Sheffield United are set to be without Mason Holgate for their next two games after his sending off against Brighton. The Everton loanee will miss the upcoming meetings with Arsenal and Bournemouth as he waits to be reinstated into the squad.

Holgate was given his marching orders after a crunching tackle on Kaoru Mitoma just ten minutes into the game. The 27-year-old flew in and made contact with the Japanese international above his knee and was immediately shown a yellow card. However, the decision was quickly upgraded to a red and Holgate was sent down the tunnel, leaving the Blades to play out the match with ten men.

Mitoma was able to play on after the challenge but did not feature against Everton in Brighton's following Premier League fixture. A new update from the Seagulls has now revealed that the winger will miss the remainder of the season through injury, a huge blow in their push for European football.

However, Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi has stressed that Mitoma's absence is not linked to Holgate's foul during their clash at Bramall Lane.

"No, no, no, Mitoma suffered something with his back before the Sheffield [United] game," the Seagulls boss explained during a recent press conference. "The player of Sheffield United [Holgate] has no responsibility for the injury of Kaoru.

"It's an important problem. I think two or three months, [so] finished [for] the season. It's the back injury which kept him out against Everton."

Brighton are next in action this evening against Wolves in the FA Cup, before travelling to Craven Cottage for their next Premier League challenge. The Blades have a tough run of fixtures coming up as they look to bank as many points as possible to aid their chances of surviving relegation.

Sheffield United anxiously await the results of the upcoming hearings for Everton and Nottingham Forest's recent Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) breaches.