IN the summer Albion's chief executive Paul Barber joined former Middlesbrough counterpart Keith Lamb as an elected Championship representative on the Football League Board.

Although Barber considers the role an honour it is one he would happily shed sooner rather than later.

Barber and Lamb's respective clubs clash at the Amex tomorrow, divided only by goal difference at the top of the table.

Middlesbrough have been in the Premier League before, for 13 out of 14 seasons from 1995 to 2009. For Albion it is territory they have been working towards since setting foot inside the Amex four seasons ago.

Chairman Tony Bloom's vision for the club is clear. Barber said: "From virtually Tony's first financial interest it's been building to days like we are in now, sitting in a good position in the Championship but by no means done.

"The position we want to be in is playing at the top level. To have great infrastructure which helps us to not only attract good players but keep good players and to put ourselves in a position where our ambition is very clear to people, both on the inside and on the outside.

"So in some ways it's a culmination of Tony's vision, albeit that we still have the most important and the biggest step to make, which is to get to that top level.

"And, of course, once you get to that top level the next big step is to stay there and make yourself sustainable."

Barber has overseen two play-off campaigns, a relegation fight and three changes of manager since joining Albion at the end of their first season at the Amex in 2012 after high-ranking roles with the FA, his boyhood club Spurs and Vancouver Whitecaps in the MLS.

Last season's dip, with the ill-fated appointment of Sami Hyypia and a recruitment set-up that delivered too many questionable signings, shook the club and the hierarchy.

The recovery has been spectacular. Albion, 21 games in, are still unbeaten under the shrewd guidance of Chris Hughton. The buzz phrase from Bloom is to "strengthen from a position of strength" in the January transfer window.

Barber said: "The great thing about Tony is he sets his vision and communicates it very clearly without ever putting a specific timetable on it - except you know that he wants it as soon as possible.

"And that's not to say we make decisions for the short-term. He would much rather we make a decision for the long-term, even if it slows our rate of progress.

"On the other hand, the infrastructure at the Amex and Lancing is there for a club to play at the highest level and each day we are not playing at the highest level then, in some ways, we are not getting the most out of it.

"So we are all aware of that desire to get to the top level. Probably the progress we've made has been pretty much as we expected. Last season was the exception.

"We were all shocked by what happened, disappointed, frustrated, and it did mean we had to recalibrate a few things. We retraced our steps, looked at every area to say how can we do better, what can we do differently?

"That did result in some changes, both in personnel and in process, but people have seen the results of that so far this season.

"Even now we have looked again at several things we are doing in several areas of the club and made one or two changes. We think we have got a lot of things right but in football there's always something else to get right.

"If we weren't self-critical and self-analysing then probably we wouldn't be in this position right now."

Bloom's trust in Barber is emphasised by a more hands-on role in Albion's recruitment process following the sacking a year ago of head of football David Burke, now head of analytics at Derby County.

Barber is an integral part of the recruitment team headed by Burke's promoted successor, Paul Winstanley, which beat 20 other clubs from the Championship and Premier League to the loan signing of England under-21s striker James Wilson from Manchester United.

The deal, although concluded at the end of the loan transfer window, was a year in the making and a combination of factors played their part - Hughton's reputation within the game, the relationship between Albion coach Nathan Jones and fellow Welshman Ryan Giggs (they sat their pro licence together), Barber's friendship with United secretary and ex-Spurs colleague John Alexander and the recommendation of Jesse Lingard following his successful loan switch from Old Trafford to the Seagulls.

It helped also that Wilson's agent is the agent as well of Middlesbrough midfielder Adam Clayton, a previous Albion transfer target.

"It's very much a team effort," Barber said. "Paul Winstanley leads it very well, both because of his knowledge of the game and contacts within the game but also his personality, which lends itself to maintaining really good relationships with agents.

"There are times when Paul to a very large extent, myself to some extent, will have conversations with agents which we know are not going to necessarily result in anything today but may well result in something tomorrow.

"In this case, James Wilson's agent is also Adam Clayton's agent. Therefore, conversations and relations we had during that period meant he was well aware of the club, what it stood for, what the facilities are like.

"The recruitment process starts and ends with the manager, as it always has, but with Chris we know what he wants, we know the sort of player he is looking for, we all know the gaps.

"We talk about recruitment every single day of the week, literally, and sometimes many times a day. They are conversations which might involve all of us, some of us or the wider group which includes our analysts and scouts, maybe Colin (Calderwood) and Nathan sometimes, but the reality is the number of people that know about specific targets is a very small number, which is another reason why we are able to keep most things very confidential, which helps us.

"That definitely has an impact on how we are able to operate just simply because the more you can keep these things under the radar, usually the better the chance you've got of getting them done."

It has not always been a bed roses for Barber with Albion as the day-to-day, corporate face of Bloom's regime. He sometimes has to deliver bad news as well as good.

It was his name, for example, on a letter to season ticket holders last week warning of the severe consequences if they are caught out trying to gain cut-price admission to the Amex with a ticket for the wrong age bracket.

Barber's popularity has increased with the club's revival, so has the hate mail been replaced by love mail?

"I don't know about that," he chuckled. "I think in this job you never quite get any love mail. This is the kind of job where you have to accept there's going to be rough times as well as smooth.

"If the attention is focused on the team and the chairman then it's a smooth time. If the attention is on me because we are going through a rough time that comes with the territory.

"Even through the difficult time last year the vast majority of supporters were very respectful and understanding that these things happen to football clubs at certain times and sticking together and coming out the other side stronger is important.

"Some didn't see it like that. That's part and parcel of the job. You just have to have a thick skin and get on with it."