Albion are ready to give Chris Hughton transfer funds in January – despite posting an eight-figure financial loss.

The Seagulls yesterday announced a £10.4 million deficit for last season, a slight improvement on figures for the 2013-14 campaign.

That result is in line with in-house expectations with the shortfall again being made up by chairman Tony Bloom.

Chief executive Paul Barber said the club would love to reward Bloom with promotion and told fans they had no reason to fear sales in January.

Barber told The Argus: “We have got no pressure to sell and we have room within our budget to buy.

“We have still got Financial Fair Play targets to hit. That hasn’t gone away and the figures have been submitted.

”We are on track (in terms of budget) this season – and we are on track to break our football investment record as we did last year.

“Tony is not just covering his losses. He is investing again.”

Albion pumped an extra £3 million into their playing budget in 2014-15 and that figure will rise again this term as they chase the Premier League.

Barber added: “There is no suggestion that Tony is prepared to give up on the dream.

“But that is a substantial amount of money. Most reasonable people would say you can’t keep spending £10 million a year out of your own pocket.

“At the moment he is prepared to do that. He is prepared to back us and that’s why we want to reward him by winning promotion.”