Albion face an anxious wait to find out whether Charlie Oatway will be available for the first match of the season.

Oatway was red carded by ref Dermot Tone for a second bookable offence in last Saturday's abandoned Battle of Longford.

In normal circumstances Oatway would receive an automatic one-match ban beginning 14 days later.

That would rule the combative midfielder out of the Seagulls' all-ticket opener at Cambridge United on August 11.

But the situation surrounding Oatway's dismissal in what was supposed to be a pre-season friendly on the Irish tour was far from normal.

Boss Micky Adams, who took his players off shortly before half time after a series of flare-ups in the clash at Flancare Park, is adopting a wait-and-see policy.

"Until I see the referee's report I am not talking about who was sent off or not," he said.

"We did not submit a team sheet and we certainly didn't get one off them (Longford).

"We are just going to wait and see if anything materialises."

The Irish FA has no jurisdiction over Albion, so it will be up to the English FA to decide what, if any, action should be taken.

An FA spokeswoman said yesterday afternoon: "We have to wait for the Irish to contact us and we have not received anything yet.

"They may not even choose to report it, in which case we wouldn't get involved."

Meanwhile, Oatway is fighting to be fit for tomorrow night's Withdean friendly against First Division Sheffield United (7.45).

A sore Achilles has sidelined him from training for three days.