Sami Hyypia says his illustrious playing career at Liverpool counts for little now he is Albion’s manager.

The towering Finn has consigned a trophy-filled decade at Anfield to history as he sets about the task of moulding the Seagulls into Championship promotion contenders for the third season running.

Hyypia won the Champions League, FA Cup twice, League Cup twice and UEFA Cup at Liverpool from 1999 to 2009 and captained the Merseyside giants before Steven Gerrard.

He said: “Of course, I try to bring my experiences to the players. That might sometimes help but that’s in the past.

“Looking at the past is not wise and I think we have to look forward and look at what we will do next week or the week after.

“I hope all the players have heard about me one day and know a little bit about what I’ve done as a player but that does not matter.

“All that matters is what I do as a manager and that’s what counts. Hopefully I can bring some good things to the team and individual players.”

Hyypia has no regrets after leaving Liverpool about the five years he spent at Bayer Leverkusen as a player, coach and then manager, which ended with the sack in April following a bad run of results.

He said: “When I was still a player other people were convinced I would be a good manager and pushed me in this direction. I’m very happy to have gone down this road, I have always been an observer. As a player I observed what managers and players were doing.

“My opportunity was unusual in that ten months after I stopped playing I was managing a Bundesliga club. That was a good school for me, in practice you learn more than when you are at school and I have learned a lot. Hopefully I can bring those things to this club.”