Albion are on course for one of their biggest crowds of the season for Chris Hughton’s first home game.

Seagulls supporters are expected to turn out in force for the new manager’s Amex bow against high-flying Brentford on Saturday. The attendance will also be boosted by a bumper away following.

Albion’s best gate so far was 28,802 for the defeat by Fulham at the end of November, when former loan signing Darren Bent made a goalscoring debut. Just over 3,000 supporters made the journey from South-West London and Brentford will have similar backing.

They sold out their original allocation of nearly 2,400 tickets by Saturday. Albion have issued them with nearly 450 more tickets to meet the demand.

The second-largest crowd at the Amex this season was 26,933 for the opening day defeat by Sheffield Wednesday.