Albion have been handed an extra incentive to win through tonight’s FA Cup fifth round clash with Hull City at the Amex.

Victory would put the Seagulls through to a quarter-final tie at home to a Sunderland side managed by their former boss Gus Poyet.

Poyet parted company with Albion in acrimonious circumstances last summer after three-and-a-half years on the South Coast.

His sacking came weeks after leading the Seagulls to the Championship play-offs.

The Uruguayan took over at the Stadium of Light in October and last month signed midfielder Liam Bridcutt, Albion’s player-of-the-season for the last two years.

Bridcutt has not played for Albion in the FA Cup this season and therefore would be eligible to play at the Amex should the Seagulls beat Hull.

It will be viewed as a favourable draw for Albion, having missed out on the big guns left in the competition including Manchester City who will face Wigan in a repeat of last season’s final.

With now just Hull and Sunderland – two teams who will prioritise Premier League survival over the Cup – standing in the way of Albion and a trip to Wembley in the semi-finals, fans will be hoping head coach Oscar Garcia resists the temptation to make too many changes tonight.

Hull are also expected to make a number of changes, as they have done in the two previous rounds this season against Middlesbrough and Southend.