Albion need to find a little bit extra to be promoted next season.

With the ink still not dry on their near-miss disappointments, they have made a good start by demonstrating a ruthless streak when the retained list was announced.

This has not always been the case. There has, in the past, been a tendency to sometimes be too generous, both in making decisions about existing players and the length of deals offered to new ones.

Most of the decisions were straightforward this time, but there were a couple of tough ones.

Gordon Greer and Inigo Calderon have been magnificent servants during the club's rise from League One at Withdean to the brink of the Premier League at the Amex.

As well as performing dependably in defence - and, in Calderon's case, occasionally in midfield - the captain and the Basque full-back have been consummate professionals, fine ambassadors for the club.

Calderon, partly as a result of his unstinting contribution to the Seagulls' charitable arm, Albion In The Community, has been a cult hero to fans.

The club could easily have been tempted to award the pair one more year, for old time's sake, but they made the correct call by releasing them.

There is no space for sentiment when you are chasing a place in the Premier League against bigger, richer rivals.

Tough decisions have to be taken to gain an edge when success or failure, as Albion found to their cost this season, can be defined by such fine margins.

The brutal reality is that Greer and Calderon, for all their loyalty and reliability, had become declining forces in Chris Hughton's squad.

Little was seen of Greer at the heart of the back four in the second half of the season once he was injured and Connor Goldson seized his opportunity.

The skipper would not have started the promotion decider at Middlesbrough if Lewis Dunk had been available instead of suspended, nor the second leg of the play-offs against Sheffield Wednesday if Goldson had been fit.

Albion also have Uwe Huenemeier, ruled out since December by injury.

Calderon could not dislodge Bruno, whose extra year's contract was inevitable after such an impressive season. The energetic dexterity of Liam Rosenior further squeezed the possibility of meaningful game time.

Greer and Calderon, both keen to continue playing, will serve a new employer well.

Greer is still a 2018 World Cup contender for Scotland. Calderon, who wants to remain in the south, will attract interest from League One and League Two.

They need replacing. The injury and disciplinary issues affecting the availability, at different times, of Greer, Dunk, Goldson and Hunemeier, emphasised that four recognised centre halves are a must.

The versatility provided by Rosenior could also do with supplementing now that Calderon has departed and borrowing options have been halved to two transfer windows, with the abolition of short-term loans.

It is not only the ruthless nature of the retained list which has exhibited a determination by Albion to raise the bar and 'go again'.

Gone from the pre-season programme are customary warm-ups against non-League Sussex opposition.

They have been reserved for the under-21s. The first team squad will be facing Fulham, Crawley, Luton and Stevenage, unglamorous, more competitive tests for what promises to be an even harder assignment in the gruelling Championship.

Improving on the season just gone is a big ask, but Albion are going the right way about it.