Roberto De Zerbi has delivered a second leg miracle before and he needs another against Roma

Brighton head coach Roberto De Zerbi challenged his team to play with freedom as they look to claw back an unlikely deficit in the second leg of their Europa League last-16 tie against Roma.

A 4-0 defeat at the Stadio Olimpico last week all but ended any realistic hopes of the Seagulls progressing to the quarter-finals on a first European campaign.

While De Zerbi accepts Thursday night’s return leg at the Amex Stadium offers little chance of a positive outcome overall, the Italian expects his players to give a much better account of themselves.

“We are not a big, big team – but we are not what we showed in Rome,” De Zerbi said at his press conference.

“We had the same chances to score as Roma but Roma deserved to win the game.

“I hope we can be better physically and we play with freedom mentally.

“In the last five games we didn’t score too many goals, but we created a lot of chances to score.

“We have to keep attacking the spaces and go between the lines – then it is up to the players to score.”

Italian coach De Zerbi knows while theoretically Brighton could defy the odds to win the tie outright, he accepts it is a tall order against a team now chasing a top-four finish in Serie A.

“When I was at Foggia I found myself in a similar situation. We had lost 5-1 or 5-2 in the first leg and in the return we won 6-1,” he said.

“But it was a different situation. Here we are against a strong team.

“I watched the match with Fiorentina (2-2 draw) and they played well and have done well in the last few games. They deserve to be where they are.”

Roma coach Daniele De Rossi is expected to rotate his squad on Thursday night, with suggestions Romelu Lukaku will not be involved.

Brighton midfielder Billy Gilmour has been serving out a three-match domestic ban, but remains available for the Europa League fixture.

Even though Brighton’s first European campaign appears to be at an end, De Zerbi insists his squad have plenty to be proud of.

“I think people will have to remember these players for a lot of time, whether we win tomorrow or whether we lose,” De Zerbi said. “Our players reached Europe, which was an incredible target.

“For tomorrow we want to play well, we want to play better – much better than in the Roma game and then we will see the result.”