Albion chairman Tony Bloom has reassured supporters they will be happy with the squad by the end of the transfer window.

He made the pledge to fans last night following reports in the North-East that the Seagulls have lost out to Middlesbrough in their pursuit of Huddersfield midfielder Adam Clayton.

Bloom, speaking at a fans’ forum at the Amex, said: “We have brought in some players and by the end of the transfer window by the end of August we’ll have brought in a few more.

“We’ve got our main targets. It’s been a bit frustrating, we’d have liked to have brought one or two more in before the start of the season but the transfer window is the end of August and the season starts three or four weeks before that, so in an ideal world the transfer window would finish and the season would start.

“It doesn’t work like that. We could have brought in three or four players by now. They wouldn’t be the main ones we want. It’s a 46-game season and from our perspective we want to make sure we get the best players in at the best possible price we can within our budget, so I’m very confident by the end of August we will have a very good squad.

“Right now we are a few players light but that will be rectified at the right time. It’s not that easy to get in the players we want but I’m very confident by the end of August everyone will be happy with our squad.”

Albion have so far signed Congolese midfielder Nzuzi Toko from Swiss club Grasshopper Zurich, former Fulham goalkeeper David Stockdale, his ex-Fulham team-mate and centre-half Aaron Hughes and striker Chris O’Grady from Barnsley.

Clayton has been a target since January, when Albion had a £1 million bid rejected by Huddersfield.

The Seagulls stepped up their interest in the Leeds-born 25-year-old following the £8 million sale of marksman Leo Ulloa to Leicester but Clayton appears to have been captured by Boro for a £1.5 million fee rising to a potential £2 million.

He was not involved in Huddersfield’s home friendly against Newcastle last night which, according to a source in Yorkshire, was due to be attended by Albion’s recruitment manager.

Albion boss Sami Hyypia, speaking about the club’s recruitment drive, said: “I don’t have a lot of experience on this side of the business. How you recruit new players is quite a new thing for me and I’ve seen how difficult it is.

“Every manager wants the best possible squad to work with to get success. I’m an ambitious guy and I would like to have Messi and Ronaldo and those kind of players in the squad but that’s not always possible.

“We have our targets and sometimes it takes time to get the right players in. We don’t want to sign players that are average. I’d like to have targets that strengthen the squad.

“In an ideal world we would have the squad already in place before the first game of the season. In this league you can’t afford to give an advantage to the opposition, that your squad is not ready when others have the squad ready, but the situation is like the chairman said, we are working very hard to get the players in who we think witll strengthen the squad.”

Last season’s left-back loan signing Stephen Ward, another persistent target for Albion, played with other Wolves outcasts and under 21s in a friendly against Chester last night.

Wolves manager Kenny Jackett said earlier: “Nothing has developed at all. He has been with us getting fit, getting match fit, which he needs to be for his next challenge.

“He is a good professional. He had a good year last year, playing regularly at left-back in a side who got in the play offs. But we’re not close to anything and as far as I’m aware Brighton haven’t been in touch.”