Dale Stephens has told team-mate David Stockdale ‘come and join us’ after committing his future to Albion.

The midfielder has ended doubts about whether he would still be with the Seagulls in the Premier League next season by signing a new four-year deal.

Now Stephens has urged out-of-contract goalkeeper Stockdale to follow suit as Albion try to keep the spine of their promotion-winning side intact.

“I hope so,” Stephens told The Argus. “He has been a big part of what we have done over the last couple of years.

“He has been a big part on and off the pitch. He brings experience, he has been at that level before, so it would be nice to see him staying. Hopefully we can get that sorted.”

Stephens’ deal through to 2021 comes nine months after Burnley tried to sign him and he handed in a transfer request.

The 27-year-old said: “I’ve tried to stay out of it quite a bit since then. Obviously, I had the incident over last summer and I didn’t want to get to that point again.

“I stayed away and let my agent sort things out with the club.

“I think once we secured promotion and the season finished I wanted to get something sorted out and we’ve done it very quickly.

“Promotion was a massive plus point. The Premier League is where everyone wants to play. It’s the top league in this country and you want to test yourselves against the best players.

“I’m very much looking forward to doing that with Brighton next season.”