Albion will have to raise their game away from the Amex to avoid launching the New Year with a rare defeat.

That is the warning from manager Chris Hughton as the second-placed Seagulls head to Fulham.

An unbeaten 17-match run in the Championship, eight of them away from home since losing at leaders Newcastle at the end of August, faces a stiff examination against in-form Fulham, undefeated for five games themselves and within five points of the play-offs.

Hughton believes his team cannot afford a repeat of their last away display, even though they ended up winning it with a late comeback.

He said: “Fortunately for us, we’ve managed to get results on the road. Our level of performance in the last away game at Birmingham wasn’t as good as the previous one at Blackburn, but we were able to get a result.

“We’ll have to be better than that I think at Fulham. We have come out of the last year in good form and you want that to continue in the New Year, because the second half of the season is not going to be any easier.”

Fulham played well in the first half and led when they lost 2-1 at the Amex in November, their only setback in the last nine matches.

Hughton said: “In the first half-hour of that game we found it difficult to get close to them.

“Their season has improved as each week has gone by. They’ve got players in form and they are very good at what they do, so we have to prepare ourselves for a really tough game.”

Both sides had their fixtures fogged off on Friday night, Albion’s against Cardiff at the Amex long before the kick-off and Fulham’s at third-placed Reading after a goalless first half.

Any changes Hughton might have been considering to cope with a second match in four days are likely to have been binned. He is expected to name the same 11 that started last Tuesday’s 3-0 home win against QPR.

Albion will be roared on by more than 4,000 fans at Craven Cottage after selling out their allocation a month ago.