Andreas Christensen did not suffer concussion and he will be fit to face Arsenal in Carabao Cup semi-final, claims Chelsea boss Antonio Conte

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Antonio Conte insists Andreas Christensen will be fit to face Arsenal in Chelsea’s Carabao Cup semi-final on Wednesday despite appearing to suffer a head injury in the 4-0 win at Brighton.

Christensen clashed heads with Shane Duffy early in the second half and carried on playing for 10 minutes after receiving treatment on the pitch, before being substituted at the suggestion of referee Jonathan Moss.

He was holding his head as he left the pitch, but Chelsea later maintained their doctors followed concussion protocol before Conte claimed it was a contusion (a bruise) rather than a concussion, which would have necessitated a lay-off of at least six days according to rules introduced in 2016.

Defender Andreas Christensen was substituted at the suggestion of ref Jonathan Moss

Conte said: ‘Andreas had a contusion. We made a substitution, but the player didn't want to come off. The referee tried to force this substitution.

‘The player is okay. From tomorrow's training session, he's ready.’

Chris Hughton was unhappy that Ezequiel Schelotto was twice denied penalties at 2-0 down, after a clear trip from Willy Caballero and a more marginal challenge from Tiemoue Bakayoko.

He said: ‘I thought they were both penalties. I was probably more disappointed with the first one because it was an incident waiting to happen.’

Christensen carried on playing for 10 minutes after receiving treatment on the pitch