Any building, or rebuilding, begins with solid foundations.

What is added next determines whether it will be categorised as des res, low-cost housing or somewhere in-between.

This is where Albion are at right now under Chris Hughton in their squad strengthening programme.

The foundations are in place, although there is still one hole to fill.

The next 17 days before Nottingham Forest's visit to the Amex launches the new season - or more realistically until 6pm on Tuesday September 1 when the summer transfer window shuts - will govern the mood, set the bar for expectation levels as the Seagulls strive to recover in the Championship from last season's flirtation with relegation.

Three of the four players recruited so far are additions, or replacements, in the back five.

This fits with Hughton's 'old school' philosophy, in the first instance at least, of being hard to beat.

That is a sound, sensible priority for a club regrouping after a sharp decline without the benefit of parachute payments or the spending power of numerous rivals.

In fact, it is sound and sensible irrespective of circumstances. Bournemouth's title triumph was not solely due to the attacking penetration which produced a near-century of goals.

They also only conceded 45, the second-lowest total in the division, which was testimony to Tommy Elphick and Steve Cook and their defensive educations with Albion.

The capture of Finnish international goalkeeper Niki Maenpaa should make David Stockdale raise his game as the last line of defence for the Seagulls following a debut campaign as uncomfortable at times as it was for the team.

Landing a player of Liam Rosenior's Premier League pedigree and dexterity, with a couple more years left in him than Bruno or Inigo Calderon, was too good an opportunity to miss.

Hughton knows a thing or two about the left-back role from his accomplished playing career, so you would like to think Gaetan Bong will be effective as a permanent solution to that problem position.

That leaves one defensive gap, another centre-half. The versatile Glen Rea has a bright future ahead of him but Albion need another centre-back, preferably in his twenties rather than thirties, as competition and cover for Lewis Dunk and injury-niggled skipper Gordon Greer.

They leaked 54 goals last term, the same number as Ipswich who finished sixth and a healthily low total for a struggling side.

Well over half of them were conceded in under half of the season with Sami Hyypia at the helm, so further improvement in this respect is plausible under Hughton over the course of a full season.

Addressing the chronic shortage of goals, fewer than one per game last season, has been restricted so far to the capture of Tomer Hemed.

The Israeli international has an encouraging CV, both for his country and in La Liga with Almeria and Mallorca.

Emulating the goals return of Leo Ulloa, also signed from Almeria, is too much to ask in a team inferior to the one the Argentinian played in but Hemed has little to beat to be considered an improvement. Sam Baldock, Chris O'Grady and Adrian Colunga scored seven league goals last season in a combined total of 65 appearances.

The success or failure of Hemed will depend a lot on the support and service he receives.

A fit-again Baldock, operating more centrally as he prefers, is the best current option but Hughton needs at least one more striker, possibly two or even three.

An element of uncertainty still surrounds the futures of Colunga and O'Grady. It may well be well beyond August 7 before strike force clarity is secured.

The return to fitness of the promising Solly March is a welcome boost but a further requirement for Albion to pose more of an attacking threat is a winger with the capacity for potency of the long-departed Will Buckley, plus a defence-unlocker like Joao Teixeira.

The squad, as it stands, has a defiant, functional feel to it, hopefully to be embellished in the weeks ahead by a dash of inspiration.