ASHLEY Barnes is prepared for more competition as Albion continue their hunt for a target man and powerful midfielder.

He is ready to fight for a place after a nine-minute hat-trick in the second half of Saturday’s 5-0 win at Maidstone United in the Seagulls' opening pre-season friendly.

Barnes top scorer last season with 14 goals, told The Argus: “It was a brilliant feeling, my first ever hat-trick as well, apart from in training. It was a good way to start pre-season.

“My target is for us to finish higher and many more goals than last season. I want to play week in, week out and contribute whether with assists or scoring goals. I just want to help the team in any way possible.

“I welcome people coming in. It’s good competition for all of the lads, to fight for their places.”

Barnes scored his hat-trick from a deep-lying role, rather than as an orthodox striker.

“Last season I played there a few times,” he said. “I had some success and a couple of iffy games. It’s a big responsibility to take on but I am happy to have that. I am learning every day about playing in different positions, out wide, through the middle or in the hole in the three in midfield.

“Long may it continue. I’ll get my head down, keep working hard and see where we can go this season. The signings so far have been fantastic. We have all got to fight for our places, nobody is secure in this team.”

Gus Poyet wants to add midfield power and a target man to a squad already strengthened defensively by the signings of goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak and fullbacks Wayne Bridge and Spaniard Bruno.

The manager hopes to fill one of the gaps this week but the striker search continues to be particularly challenging.

Poyet said: “It’s still difficult. It’s a position where there are not many and the few that there are are very expensive, so it’s difficult to get them. We’ll see, we are working on it.

“We are still in a good situation with a few. We’ll see if we can develop that in the right way.

“It’s the same with the midfielder. I think we’ve got more options and there are more possibilities, so that should be a little bit easier. We are looking forward to seeing if we can do one at least this week.”