Albion boss Chris Hughton will delay his squad rebuilding plans for next season until Championship safety is a mathematical certainty.

The Seagulls have entered the international break with survival virtually guaranteed after taking four points from away games at Millwall and Blackburn.

Greg Halford helped the Seagulls to successive clean sheets, deputising at centre-half for the suspended Lewis Dunk.

The on-loan utility player, out of contract at Nottingham Forest in the summer, is keen to be part of Hughton’s future plans if he is surplus to requirements at the City Ground.

Hughton also has decisions to make on seven players with deals expiring at the end of the season, headed by first team squad regulars Inigo Calderon and Craig Mackail-Smith.

The manager told The Argus: “Greg has done very well. He’s the type of personality that doesn’t look flustered in anything that he does and for somebody that hasn’t played so many games I thought he was very much up to speed with the tempo of the game (at Blackburn). He was part of a very good team performance.

“At this moment all he can keep doing is training as well as he has and play in as many games as he can in this final bit.

“We’ve got lots of decisions to make on a lot of situations and players.

“I think until we are mathematically in the best position we can be then that allows us to actually think about those things with a little bit more freedom."

Hughton has to choose between keeping faith with Halford or recalling Dunk when Albion return to action against his former club Norwich at the Amex on Friday week.