Ashley Barnes has urged Albion to sign his pal Joe Mason – as his replacement.

Cardiff striker Mason and Bournemouth’s top scorer Lewis Grabban are two of the names on the Seagulls’ wanted list after Barnes moved to Burnley last week.

He was team-mates with Mason at Plymouth and believes the 22-year-old would be an excellent addition to Oscar Garcia’s strike force.

Barnes revealed to The Argus: “Joe is a good friend of mine and I still speak to him now. He’s a great player.

“He is a completely different player to me. When I played with him he was best probably playing off a striker or on the wing really.

“I wouldn’t class him as a main striker, because he is quite small, but then again Macca (Craig Mackail-Smith) is not the biggest and he is fantastic up front on his own.

“He is definitely worth signing, without a doubt. He has already been there and done it. He got promoted with Cardiff and look at the games he played for Cardiff.”

Mason has scored 18 goals in 43 starts and 34 substitute outings for Cardiff.

The £600,000-rated former Republic of Ireland under 21 international helped the Welshmen win the Championship last season but has not featured for them in the Premier League and is just back from a loan spell at Bolton Wanderers.