Tomer Hemed knows the buzz of playing in big derbies in Israel and in the top flight in Spain.

But Albion's new No.9 is looking forward to the match-by-match intensity of the Championship.

It is one of the major motivations for Hemed's move into English football.

The 28-year-old experienced intense rivalry earlier in his career playing in his homeland for Maccabi Haifa against Maccabi Tel Aviv.

He has been a keen TV viewer of English football and expects lining up for the Seagulls to be a different and better ball game.

Hemed said: "I like the atmosphere. I know that every stadium is full. The people here live for football and that is something I really like.

"I am the kind of player that likes to play for the fans, for the club, and I give everything to my club.

"It's really strong football, tough and fast. I really want to be part of that.

"I played in those games for Maccabi. It's a different feeling. In Israel football is also the main sport that most people go to watch but it's not like here in England.

"In Israel there are many stadiums that are not full and you can feel the difference between a big game and other games.

"Here in England I saw that almost every game is a big game, a special game, with a full stadium."

A packed house at the Amex will also be a new home experience at club level for Israeli international Hemed compared to his time in Spain with Mallorca and, more recently, Almeria.

Their average attendance in La Liga last season was under 12,000. Their biggest crowd was 16,000, the worst 8,500, which is more in line with the lower leagues in England.

Almeria were relegated, Mallorca struggled too, so a relatively modest return of eight goals last season and 19 in two top flight campaigns for Hemed with the Balearic Islanders has to be taken in context. He said: "It's not easy for a striker in a league like the Spanish League where there are a lot of great teams and you are down in the table.

"It's difficult to get chances to score goals but I did my best and every year I was the best scorer for the team and I tried to help as much as I could.

"In the end it's difficult to get or create chances in these kinds of teams but I did the best that I could in that situation."

Albion also struggled to create chances and score goals last season. Hemed, on target ten times in 15 appearances for his country including a hat-trick against Luxembourg, hopes that is just a blip after signing for an undisclosed seven-figure fee on a three-year deal, with a year still remaining on his contract at Almeria.

"I was happy at Almeria and I liked the Spanish League," he said. "I cannot say what would have happened if we had stayed up but I have always felt I would like, after a few years in Spain, to try the experience of English football.

"People have always told me my style is better suited to English football, so I think it was the right time to move."