Physical stature apart, Chris Hughton and Sam Allardyce have got quite a lot in common.

Both are former defenders from the 1980s (although Allardyce made his bow a bit earlier than the Albion boss).

Both are experienced managers who have come up through the English football system and, coincidentally, have both managed at Newcastle.

The are two bosses who are not known for spectacular football - in fact their styles have been criticised - but whose sides can play a more attractive game than their bosses are given credit for.

And now, two managers who have had to rally their sides to go for promotion through the play-offs after missing out on automatic promotion on the final day of the season.

Of course there are big differences between the newly-relegated Hammers team who went up after a third-place finish in 2011-12 and Hughton’s more unfancied Albion side of this season.

But while Hughton quite rightly, in the immediate aftermath of last Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Midlesbrough, recalled Norwich finishing third last season, it is the Hammers of four years ago who offer the role model for the Seagulls.

Norwich went into the final day of 2014-15 knowing they could not go up.

The same has been the case for several eventual play-off winners in recent seasons.

QPR (2014), Crystal Palace (2013), Swansea (2011), Blackpool (2010), Burnley (2009) and Hull (2008) all went into the final day with no need to think about automatic promotion although a couple still had to secure their play-off place.

You will have your work cut out to find a miss that was as near as Albion’s this season, especially given the nature of their last-day showdown with Middlesbrough.

But the Hammers were the last side who came back from a final-day near miss to go up in the end.

They needed to win at home to Hull and hope Southampton slipped up at home to relegated Coventry.

Carlton Cole’s double gave the Hammers the points but they knew pretty quickly that the Saints were on their way to a 4-0 win.

The response was impressive – wins by 2-0 (away) and 3-0 (at home) against Cardiff and then a slightly fortunate 2-1 success over Blackpool at Wembley as Ricardo Vaz Te got the late clincher.

"It is great, right up there with the best for me because of the size of West Ham and the pressures," Allardyce said.

"You get critics everywhere, a small minority who make themselves heard at every club, but the vast majority have been behind the team.

"It would have been devastating (to miss out), according to the owners who would have had to decimate the wage bill by £10m, off-load players for little or no fee and still achieve what fans want."

So how have the other third-placed teams fared, regardless of whether they took the race to the last day?

Derby went up through the play-offs in 2006-07 after seeing their pursuit of second-placed Birmingham flounder in defeat at Crystal Palace in their penultimate match.

It was fraught. The Rams won away to Southampton in the semi-finals, then lost at home and went through on penalties.

Stephen Pearson scored the only goal of their final against West Brom.

Hull turned third place into promotion in 2007-08.

Burnley came from fifth to win the play-offs a year later. Reading, third going into the final day, and Sheffield United, who actually finished third, both had a chance of automatic promotion in game 46 but ended up losing in the play-offs.

Nottingham Forest found third place counted for nothing in 2009-10 but Swansea used it as a basis for promotion at Wembley a year later.

Then came West Ham’s happy finale before, in successive finals, Watford and Derby suffered late and agonising defeats at Wembley against sides who had finished below them.

Three promotions in the last five season for teams who finished third? That does not seem a bad stat.

But none have had to recover from a near miss quite as deflating as that suffered by the Seagulls though.

Not even Big Sam and his boys.

STATS POINT TO TIGERS

Hull could have the advantage in the play-offs – as a side who have were relegated last season.

Three of the last four play-off winners were teams just down from the Premier League: Norwich, QPR and West Ham.

The exceptions were Crystal Palace, who came 17th the year before they were promoted.

But Hull also show Albion what can be done as they bid to take their remarkable rise from last season all the way to the top flight.

Promotion would represent the most spectacular climb since the Tigers followed 21st place in 2006-07 with play-off glory 12 months later. Albion came 20th last term

Blackpool (16th) and Burnley (13th) have also recovered from undistinguished finishes to go up through the play-offs in the following season.