Premier League veteran Liam Rosenior reckons Albion will have the "surprise factor" on their side when they make the step up.

The versatile full-back believes the Seagulls' squad is packed with players who will fly under the radar to begin with in the top flight, yet are capable of taking the rise in standard in their stride.

Like Solly March, who opened the scoring in Saturday's facile 6-0 friendly victory at Crawley.

Daring to ask on Twitter how much March is worth, when Norwich have sold Jacob Murphy for £12 million, drew a withering response from Newcastle supporters.

The general gist was Solly who? Newcastle and others may find out to their cost in the coming months.

March would have been competing with Murphy for a wide spot for England under-21s in the Euro finals in Poland in the summer had he not finished Albion's promotion campaign nursing a heel injury.

He previously spent almost a year on the sidelines with cruciate knee ligament damage and did not return until November.

There were gliding glimpses from the bench, and sometimes from the start, of the effortless threat March can pose to full-backs once he returned.

With a good pre-season under his belt and the added incentive of trying to ensure ankle injury victim Anthony Knockaert is not missed too much, it could be a big year for March.

The Argus: He will start life in the Premier League as an unknown quantity - and Rosenior (above) thinks that will help.

The 33-year-old, who has experienced the top flight with Fulham, Reading and Hull, told The Argus: "I think at first it does. You do have that surprise factor.

"He's got everything you'd want in a wide player and now he has just got to add that last bit to his game.

"If he can add goals and assists, he can do anything. I've said that ever since I came to the club.

"He's got better every year and hopefully he can do that again this year.

"He had a terrible injury. He showed how strong he is. When you've had a bad injury like that, to be in the gym working for a year or so showed he has got that mental toughness you need to make it.

"Having a full pre-season helps. That basis makes a massive difference. He's got everything you need to play at the highest level."

Rosenior does not regard March as an isolated example. Chris Hughton used 22 players again at Crawley, many of whom formed the nucleus of the squad in Albion's successive seasons at the top end of the Championship.

Rosenior, part of the second half line-up at right-back said: "Everyone wants to play, to be involved, to start that first game and stake a claim for the shirt. That's a great thing to have.

"You want competition for places. I'm sure the club are going to bring more faces in to add to what we've already got.

"And we have to remember, all this talk of big transfer fees, we've got a squad that got pretty much 90 points over two Championship seasons, so we are in a strong position already.

"I'm sure there are a lot of players in this group who will go on to prove they are top, Premier League players as well."

The first game against Manchester City at the Amex is only 18 days away now. The build-up to it gathers pace tonight at Southend United, who went close to promotion to the Championship last season.

Rosenior said: "It's another League up. We played Southend a couple of years ago, scored the last minute in a cup game. It's going to be another really good test."