CHRIS HUGHTON has urged Albion to keep their automatic promotion challenge on track in a “big” December.

The Seagulls have six league games this month, starting at Cardiff tomorrow and ending with a visit from the Welshmen.

Only April is busier and it was in December last year that Albion’s Premier League push suffered a setback. They took just six points from 18 and suffered their first defeats, at home to Middlesbrough and Ipswich.

Hughton told The Argus: “It’s generally looked upon as a big month, because it’s before January when there is some movement in and out. At the start of the season players are building fitness, then you get to October/November and that December period is when they are well into their stride.

“Physically they are at a high, probably peaking, and we end up having a lot of games over a short period of time.

“That’s why the month is important and psychologically you want to go into the New Year in a good position. We will certainly want to do better than this time last year.”

Albion head into the Christmas month on 38 points, the same total as last year. They were top then, two points clear of Middlesbrough with a goal difference of plus ten. Derby were also two points behind them in third, Hull three points adrift and Burnley four.

Hughton’s side are currently better placed for a top two finish. They are two points below Newcastle but have a goal difference of plus 17, a four-point cushion over Reading and seven and nine-point advantages respectively over Birmingham and Leeds, two of their December opponents.