When Albion launch their second season in the Premier League on the second weekend in August, the priority will be exactly the same as for the first - to stay outside the bottom three.

The Seagulls, together with fellow promoted survivors Newcastle and Huddersfield and the rest outside the top six, will look upon the trio of clubs coming up from the Championship as potential fall guys.

That has always been the case and it will be no different in the 2018-19 campaign.

This season was unusual, only the third time in Premier League history that none of the promoted teams made an immediate return to the Championship grind.

Middlesbrough and Hull both succumbed the year before, Norwich suffered the same fate the year before that, Burnley and QPR in 2014-15.

The Premier League line-up is now complete following Fulham's victory over Aston Villa in Saturday's Championship play-off final at Wembley.

They join champions Wolves and runners-up Cardiff in attempting to emulate Albion, Newcastle and Huddersfield.

Until Saturday - a fortnight after the end of the Premier League season, three weeks after Cardiff clinched second place and six weeks since Wolves knew where they would be - there would have been a Plan A and Plan B for Fulham.

Customarily, the team promoted via the play-offs are most at risk. Not only are they playing catch-up with the two clubs they accompany, they also have less time to prepare.

Albion, admittedly brisker than most in their summer business, already had Florin Andone (below) and Leon Balogun signed before Fulham kicked a ball at Wembley.

The Argus: Going up via the play-offs and then staying up can be done, as Huddersfield demonstrated (albeit by the skin of their teeth) and prior to that Crystal Palace. They finished 13th the year after knocking Albion out of the play-offs.

Fulham supporters are entitled to feel optimistic. They deserve their place back among the elite, having finished just two points behind Cardiff, five clear of Villa and 12 or more clear of the rest with a brand of incisive, possession-based football squeezing up from the back under Slavisa Jokanovic which is easy on the eye.

The likes of prodigiously talented 18-year-old Ryan Sessegnon and Tom Cairney, who combined for the all-important goal against Villa, should be well-suited to the Premier League.

Aleksandar Mitrovic, who was a January target for Albion, has been given a new lease of life by his loan move from Newcastle to the banks of the River Thames.

He contributed 12 goals in 18 games, compared to five in his last 31 appearances under Rafa Benitez in the north-east, and is likely to be receptive to a permanent switch to south-west London after representing Serbia in the World Cup finals.

Fulham, for all their flair, will still require considerable strengthening to resurrect themselves as an established Premier League club, which they were in the days of former Albion triumvirate Bobby Zamora, Steve Sidwell and Liam Rosenior.

The Argus: Saturday's outcome will have induced mixed emotions for the recently departed Sidwell (above), who also played for Villa.

The dilemma for Fulham over another Albion midfielder, on-loan Oliver Norwood, is indicative of the challenge they now face in bridging the gap between the Championship and Premier League.

After 16 starts and 17 substitute appearances in the Seagulls' promotion campaign, it soon became clear Norwood would not be part of Chris Hughton's Premier League plans.

The role played by Norwood in Fulham's promotion has been more significant - 22 starts, 15 outings from the bench and five goals.

The Northern Ireland international's influence has, however, waned. Each of his last ten appearances since February have been as a substitute, including at Wembley where he replaced the injured Stefan Johansen just after Fulham had been redcued to ten men with 20 minutes left by the dismissal of Denis Odoi.

Norwood did well during his cameo, producing a goal-saving tackle inside his own area. Whether his wish will be granted is another matter.

Speaking before the play-off final, Norwood told The Sun: "I'm not a player who likes to sit around twiddling his thumbs on the bench, it would have been a year of that at Brighton, I've got to accept that.

"For me it was a no-brainer to come to Fulham and I would like to stay here for many years.

"I honestly see my future at Fulham. I've loved every second here. I've got a year left at Brighton. Hopefully they can resolve the situation pretty soon.

"Sometimes in football you move and it doesn't work out. I was lucky to be part of a promotion squad but for me personally I didn't fit in there as much as I do here.

"I fit into the style of football the manager wants to play here at Fulham and I think I have had quite a good impact on proceedings."

Villa's defeat was another painful blow for Colin Calderwood, who had a toe removed before returning to the bench at Wembley as part of Steve Bruce's coaching staff. The Scot jumped ship after 21 months as Hughton's Albion assistant.

The Argus: Calderwood's replacement, Paul Trollope (above left), was formerly in charge of Cardiff, where successor Neil Warnock used all his experience to get the Welshmen promoted against the odds.

Although they pipped Fulham to the second promotion spot, Warnock probably has a tougher job than Jokanovic in making sure Cardiff last longer than their solitary season in the Premier League in 2013-14.

Their squad, featuring some names familiar to Albion fans, has more of a Championship feel to it. Left-back Joe Bennett and versatile long throw exponent Greg Halford were both inherited by Hughton from the ill-fated reign of Sami Hyypia and poor recruitment period under David Burke.

Danish striker Kenneth Zohore, who contributed nine goals and five assists, attracted a bid from Albion during last summer's transfer window.

Perhaps the most intriguing of the newcomers are unsettled Albion defender Connor Goldson's home town club Wolves, who romped to the title under new head coach and Portugese ex-goalkeeper Nuno Espirito Santo.

Fellow countryman Diogo Jota, who top scored with 18 goals, looks an especially exciting addition to the Premier League.

Theoretically they should fancy themselves to finish above Cardiff and Fulham again, although Leicester, the last club to win the Championship by nine points in 2013-14, laboured before eventually easing themselves clear of relegation in 14th prior to their astonishing title triumph the following year.

Such improbable success will be far from the minds of Wolves, Cardiff and Fulham, just as it was 12 months ago for Albion, Newcastle and Huddersfield.