Albion boss Chris Hughton has hailed the success of the trip to Austria and Switzerland as he prepares to welcome back his World Cup stars.

The squad had five days of intensive training in the Austrian Alpine resort of Schruns before crossing the border into Switzerland for yesterday's 1-1 draw at St Gallen in their first pre-season friendly (below).

The Argus: St Gallen begin their campaign in the Swiss top flight at Basel on Saturday, while Albion do not get underway at Watford in the Premier League until three weeks later.

Hughton said: "It showed a little bit, the intensity of their game and the pressing of their game.

"I thought we got better as the game went on, but they started better than us. Ultimately we had the better chances to win.

"It was a good run-out for us, considering where they are in their pre-season."

The training camp in Austria followed a week's training back at home.

The squad will be supplemented by the returns from World Cup duty over the course of the next nine days of Mathew Ryan (Australia), Leon Balogun (Nigeria) and Jose Izquierdo (Colombia).

Hughton said: "The week (in Austria) was very good. The weather was hot, as it has been in most places. The facilities were excellent. When you go away for a pre-season camp it's about the work that you do and we have been able to get in three sessions a day.

"Every team decides to do it different ways. We generally have a hard two weeks and then into our first game. Some English teams have already played one or two games.

"We've still got some players to come back, which will be nice for the group, and then we continue to go again."

Albion play Crawley behind closed doors at the Lancing training complex on Friday (11am), then go to AFC Wimbledon the following day.

The squad splits again on July 24 for another closed access run-out at Lancing (11am) and the trip to Charlton (7.45pm).