Ashley Barnes is ready to ease the pressure on his manager to sign a striker.

But Gus Poyet remains confident he will have a new target man on board for the start of the Championship season.

Barnes played as the only recognised striker and was involved in all the Seagulls’ goals as they beat Chelsea 3-1 in a friendly on Saturday.

The former Plymouth man was a centre-forward when Albion won League One in 2010-11 but played wider and deeper last season.

Now he is ready to fill that role in the new campaign if Poyet's efforts to bring someone in have not paid off.

He said: “Of course I enjoy playing there but the gaffer picks the team and he goes the way he wants.

“If he wants other strikers to come in that is fair enough. I am ready to fight for a place. But I’m quite lucky I can play in a few positions.”

Poyet is convinced he will get his man but said: “Other clubs want the same players and they can pay a bit more. I think we will have a striker for sure – somehow.

“The sooner the better because we ned to work with him.”

Poyet praised Barnes’ efforts in a win which saw Vicente quickly cancel out Frank Lampard’s opener and Andrew Crofts add a late third.

He added: “Ash was a little bit involved everywhere in terms of what we do and how we want the players to do it.

“With his goal, he cleared the ball from the box from their corner and somehow he got on the rebound at the other end.

“That is the willingness we want from players. That is how he plays. If he keeps doing that it will be difficult for the rest to get into the team.

“And on top of that he scored.”

Barnes took a hefty whack off substitute David Luiz in the final minutes but revealed he might face one more battle at home after swapping shirts with Gary Cahill.

He joked: “That will go up on the wall in the living room. I'm sure she won't be happy - but it will!”