Albion skipper Paul Rogers has raised the stakes for Saturday's big clash against Chesterfield by targeting a title double.

Rogers was in the Wigan team which pipped Micky Adams' Fulham for the Third Division championship on goals scored in 1996-97.

Now Albion's golden oldie midfielder is aiming to lead Adams' Seagulls to a repeat.

Rogers, 36 yesterday, said: "It will be great to go up, but if we do we want to be champions. All the lads are keen to do that. It would be a great achievement."

Albion have only been crowned champions twice in their 100-year history.

They won Division Three South in 1957-58 and the Fourth Division in 1964-65.

Adams said: "It matters finishing second rather than first. At Fulham we had a better goal difference than Wigan but lost it on goals scored.

"When we won our last match at Cambridge we were straight on the coach home, while Wigan had the ceremony of the championship and medals.

"I am not so bothered about it this season, because it's a different scenario.

"We were top at Fulham for five months, which made it a little bit more disappointing. At Brighton we haven't been in that situation.

"At the beginning of the season we were looking at the play-offs, now we are looking at automatic promotion.

"If we are in one of the top three positions it would please me no end, but if we were to be champions that would cap a magnificent season."

Victory in Saturday's sell-out showdown at Withdean will move Albion within seven points of Chesterfield with two games in hand.

The Spireites' position is also under a cloud. They face a long list of charges relating to alleged financial irregularities which, if proven, could result in a massive points reduction.

It's an unsettling situation which Albion hope to exploit.

"The Chesterfield players have been different class all season," Rogers said.

"But it is not in their hands. It's in the hands of the football authorities."

Cardiff are not in action on Saturday, so even a draw will take the Seagulls back up into second place.

The uncertainty surrounding Chesterfield makes predicting a title points target for Albion a hazardous business and delving into the record books doesn't help much.

Rogers' Wigan and Adams' Fulham finished with 87 points four seasons ago.

Notts County ran away with the title the following year with 99.

Recent history does, however, confirm that Albion are virtually guaranteed to fill one of the three automatic promotion places.

Carlisle came third behind Wigan and Fulham with 84 points. Lincoln went up the next year with 75, only four more than the Seagulls' current total. Cardiff clinched a place in the Second Division with 80 in 1998-99, while Northampton's total last season was 82.

Interestingly, over the period of the last four seasons 80 points would have been sufficient to avoid the lottery of the play-offs.

In other words, although Albion need 18 points from the last ten games to be mathematically certain of going up, just three more wins ought to be enough.

In case you were wondering, the 71 points Albion already have would have assured them of a play-off place in each of the last four seasons!