Albion manager Mark McGhee today warned two of his established players: "We cannot afford contracts out of sentiment."

Midfielders Nathan Jones and Charlie Oatway have both been offered new one-year deals.

They were awarded longer contracts after the Seagulls were last promoted to the First Division in 2001-02 under Peter Taylor.

Albion went straight back down the following season and McGhee insists the long-serving pair will have to prove themselves at the higher level this time.

He said: "The year before last they were relegated and they have got to prove to me they are going to be good enough. Charlie had a clause in his contract saying if he played a certain number of games he would get a year.

"I want him here but, like everyone else, I want him in the team and being able to pull his weight and more than anything I want players to keep us firmly in the First Division.

"If they are not going to be able to do that we cannot afford contracts out of sentiment. We all get paid for what we do now, not for what we have done before, so they have got to pull their weight."

Jones and Oatway, 31 in November, are among 11 out-of-contract players offered new terms, ranging from three months to three years.

"One of the things I have said to Charlie is that I will give him a decision about the following year early, some time after Christmas," McGhee revealed.

"If he is in the team regularly I would expect it to be yes, so that is his target."