Liam Rosenior has pledged to defy the odds and become a Premier League manager - just like Chris Hughton.

Albion boss Hughton will be the only black manager in the top flight this season and one of just two in the country with Carlisle’s Keith Curle.

Utility player Rosenior, planning a career in management after he retires, is not put off by the statistics.

The 33-year-old told The Argus: “Not particularly, because I think if I ever get the opportunity to interview, I’d like to think I could impress people enough to give me the job and look past the colour of my skin.

“Look at the likes of the manager when he was playing, Clyde Best, Cyrille Regis, people like that.

“When they started playing football as little boys and saw no black players playing, should they give up just because the statistics of black players playing in the English league were so low?

“I think the only way you change it is to be ambitious.

“Maybe I am a bit outspoken sometimes, or speak a lot in the press, but I only say how I feel.

“I’m ambitious and I want to manage at the top level and I feel like I have the capabilities to do that.

“If I get a chance or I don’t know but I’m willing and ready to do that when the time comes.”

Rosenior, hit by injuries in his two seasons with Albion, will reach 150 games in the Premier League if he makes 12 appearances under Hughton. He has played in the top flight for Fulham, Reading and Hull.