Albion's exceptional support away from home, both in quantity and volume, is about to suffer a hit for their biggest match of the season.

The weekend trek to Burnley is a turn-on for television, a turn-off now for some of the Seagulls' away regulars.

The numbers and noise from the visitors' end are sure to be affected by the switch from a Saturday afternoon to Sunday lunchtime kick-off for live coverage on Sky.

A fair proportion of those that travel to all parts of the country to cheer Albion on away from the Amex do so by train.

Because of engineering works and replacement coach services it is impossible to leave for Lancashire on Sunday morning to arrive in time for the 1.15pm kick-off at Turf Moor.

Travelling on Saturday and staying overnight hikes the price of their loyalty. The alternative is a longer, less relaxing journey by road on clogged-up and bollard-infested motorways, launching much earlier than would have been the case for the original kick-off time of 3pm.

Some, inevitably, will opt instead for the comfort of the living room to remove all the aggro.

The inconvenience to Albion's travelling contingent will not bother Sky. They have a match to fit their scheduling. Who cares about the consequences?

Scant regard has also been given to Middlesbrough supporters planning to make the long haul south to the Amex the Saturday before Christmas on December 19.

A 12.30 start for that one to accomodate the Sky cameras means Boro supporters travelling by train will have to leave before 6am and endure a five-and-a-half-hour journey with multiple changes.

Wolves fans will be similarly agitated by their trip to the Amex being brought forward 24 hours to New Year's Day, straight after what for many will be a long night seeing in 2016.

Albion, in total, are live on Sky four times between now and then. The visit to QPR at least remains as originally scheduled, Tuesday December 15 (7.45pm), in spite of the presence of the cameras.

This is an exception to the general rule of disruption that has become such a part of the fabric of English football that nobody bats an eyelid. Nobody, that is, except a controversial owner.

There is not much to like about Leeds chairman Massimo Cellino, currently fighting a second ban by the Football League in relation to dubious business practices back in Italy.

The sleeping giants of Yorkshire are onto their fifth manager in Cellino's 18 months in charge at Elland Road, an accident-waiting-to-happen partnership with former Crawley boss Steve Evans.

Cellino's tenure has little to recommend it, apart from a stand he made last month against his club featuring so frequently on TV.

You have to question Sky's judgement in selecting matches involving Leeds, labouring in the bottom half of the Championship, ten times by the turn of the year but that is another debate.

Cellino claimed Leeds lose money on TV games. His clumsy attempt at protesting - restricting Leeds' away following to 2,000 in line with the Football League's minimum requirements - backfired.

Cellino was forced into a hasty U-turn because he was punishing the wrong people but he at least put the issue on the agenda and he had a point too.

Championship clubs receive £100,000 for live coverage by Sky of home games, £10,000 as the away side. They are cautious about the assumed benefits.

Albion's only previous appearance on Sky this season was for the opening game against Nottingham Forest at the Amex.

The crowd figure of 24,623 would have been higher if the match had taken place as originally intended at 3pm on Saturday, rather than 7.45pm on Friday evening.

It is also hard to gauge just how much value there is to sponsors and the club in the long run from the more widespread exposure.

In days gone by, when Albion made the occasional TV appearance at Withdean, it was a big deal, a welcome boost to the coffers. The merits now are far more dubious.

The longer they remain in the promotion hunt the more likely they are to continue catching the eye of Sky.

It's a double-edged sword, or more like a dagger to the ribs of the most loyal supporters of all.