NIKI MAENPAA wants a return to the Championship after quitting Albion.

The Finnish keeper is keen to continue his career in England in the second tier.

Maenpaa ended his three-year association with Albion last month in search of more game time.

They wanted him to stay, but Maenpaa decided it was time to move on after understudying David Stockdale in the Championship, then Mathew Ryan and Tim Krul in the Premier League.

The 33-year-old told The Argus: “I don’t have any news yet. I’m waiting.

“I am hoping to stay in the UK but time is passing by and if I don’t get anything I’ll have to think about some other options as well.

“Staying here is my No.1. I am hoping to get something in the Championship. I think that’s realistic and also challenging at the same time. The transfer window has been quite quiet at the moment. It can change quickly once a keeper goes somewhere else and the wheels start turning.”

Jason Steele, who has joined Albion on a free transfer from Sunderland since Maenpaa’s exit, begins pre-season training today with his new team-mates.

Meanwhile, Maenpaa, who made his only league appearance for the Seagulls in the Championship in August 2016, is working alone.

“I am just training by myself,” he said. “At the moment I really need some football training as well. You can keep yourself fit really easily by running, going to the gym, those kind of things.

“That has never been a problem for me. I can be quite disciplined in that way in keeping myself in shape.

Albion remain in the market for another keeper as cover and competition for Mathew Ryan, with Krul’s future still unclear.

Ryan will not link back up with Albion until later in pre-season after playing for Australia at the World Cup.