ALBION boss Chris Hughton insists it is not just a two-horse race for promotion from the Championship.

The Seagulls and Hughton’s old club Newcastle have been involved in a ding-dong for weeks at the top of the table.

Albion have slipped back to second following their first defeat in 19 league games at Preston, a point behind Newcastle with a game in hand. In-form Leeds head the chasing pack, six points further back, and Hughton has warned that his current club and former one will not continue to dominate.

He said: “I never have thought that because of the quality of teams in this division. We watched two fabulous games (Reading v QPR, Leeds v Derby) and the strength of Norwich and Aston Villa, the teams that are really performing well like Leeds, Reading, Huddersfield.

“There are too many good teams to think it’s going to be just between two. I think there will be lots of twists and turns for the rest of the season. We need to make sure we get back to what we do best and to get back to winning ways.”

Albion have an immediate opportunity to bounce back at home to Sheffield Wednesday on Friday night after goals in each half by ex-Newcastle central defender Paul Huntington and Callum Robinson for Preston ended their unbeaten sequence stretching back to early September.

Hughton said: “We’ve got to hope in the long run it doesn’t do us any harm, brings us back to basics.

“For anyone that was getting carried away, it brings us back down to earth and we’ll need to be better next game.

“We’ve got very tough opposition, albeit at home, and we’ll need to be better.”