Brighton were left frustrated in the first leg of their Conference League play-off as they were held to a goalless draw by Tromso at Romssa Arena, leaving Fabian Hurzeler's side with work to do ahead of next week's return leg at the Amex Stadium.

Brighton dominated for large parts of Thursday's contest but were unable to find a breakthrough against a resilient Tromso side who threatened on the counter-attack and came close to snatching a winner of their own.

The visitors had to wait until the 26th minute to register their first shot on target, when Pascal Gross' effort from outside the box was comfortably gathered by Tromso goalkeeper Jakob Haugaard. Ibrahim Osman, making his Brighton debut, almost gave the Seagulls the lead soon after, but his venomous swivelled strike was brilliantly saved by Haugaard to keep the scores level.

Verbruggen rescues Brighton as Tromso threaten

Tromso should have taken the lead five minutes after the restart when Heine Larsen was sent through one-on-one, but Bart Verbruggen showcased his quality and experience by diving low to his right to deny the striker.

Yasin Ayari then forced Haugaard into another smart stop in the 54th minute before Ferdi Kadioglu dragged his effort wide following Olivier Boscagli's inviting corner into the area.

Brighton dominated proceedings from that point onward, but they were nearly made to pay four minutes from time when Isak Vadebu was put through on goal. With only Verbruggen to beat, Vadebu skewed his attempt over the crossbar as both sides ultimately failed to find a winner.

Osman shines on debut but attacking concerns linger

Despite joining Brighton two years ago from Nordsjaelland, this was Osman's first taste of action for the Seagulls, having spent time on loan at Feyenoord, Auxerre and Birmingham City. The 21-year-old was easily Brighton's standout attacker on the night.

Only a fine stop from Haugaard denied him a debut goal, but Osman did everything else right. He finished with team-high totals for touches in the opposition box (12), dribbles (three) and possession won in the final third (three), while only Gross (five) created more chances than his three.

Beyond Osman's encouraging display, however, Hurzeler will be left frustrated with how his team failed to find the back of the net. Having allowed Danny Welbeck — the scorer of 14 goals in all competitions last season — to leave for Chelsea, the likes of Georginio Rutter, Charalampos Kostoulas and Zadok Yohanna all failed to make an impact up front.

The underlying numbers told a story of Brighton's profligacy: the Seagulls managed 25 attempts and an expected goals (xG) total of 1.61, while Tromso posed a significant threat with their five shots yielding an xG of 1.36, particularly through late counter-attacks.

Brighton will now turn their attention to the opening game of their Premier League season against Aston Villa this Sunday, but they will know that Tromso will not make things easy for them on the south coast in seven days' time.