Chris Hughton has urged Albion to grab their chance of promotion to the Premier League now – before it gets even harder.

The third-placed Seagulls are striving to stay in touch in the Championship with Newcastle and Norwich, two of the relegated clubs cushioned by bumper parachute payments.

The handouts to soften the blow of demotion from the top flight will climb even higher from this season as a result of the multi-billion, three-year TV rights deal agreed by Sky Sports and BT Sport.

Experts say the new front-loaded parachute figure is worth around £75 million over three seasons.

The Argus:

Rafa Benitez has a strong squad at Newcastle

Hughton said: “I can certainly see a situation where there becomes a small group of teams that end up being what we have called yo-yo clubs.

“Norwich have done it in recent seasons, Hull also. Burnley went down and straight back up. Before that West Brom had done it a few times.

“Credit to Newcastle, because they have balanced the books. They have bought incredibly well, players that are Premier League players but also top Championship players, while receiving big money for Wijnaldum and Sissoko.

“But I can see teams that come down making sure they keep their best players and also making sure their squads are capable to go straight back up again.

“So I think the urgency is to do it (promotion) sooner rather than later.”

Half of the sides promoted to the Premier League in the last two seasons were relegated the year before, emphasising the expanding prize of a shot at the elite and the growing financial disparity between the top two divisions.

Albion have defied the financial disadvantage of never competing in the Premier League with top six finishes in three of the last four seasons.