Gus Poyet insists Matt Sparrow and Romain Vincelot have been treated with respect by Albion and are not being forced out of the club.

The manager revealed in Wednesday’s Argus that Sparrow and Vincelot should leave if they want to play and said the Seagulls have been “too nice”.

The names of the pair are missing from the first team squad list and profiles on the official website but Poyet has kept them involved.

He said: “Other clubs left players behind on tour. We took everyone. We could easily have left four or five players behind.

“There are other clubs where, when you are not in the first team, you train with the reserves. They don’t, they train with the first team.

“Sometimes you think because we do that they don’t want to leave. Do they want us to start doing that, pulling them out, training twice a day, making their life hell and then they will leave?

“I think they should realise that we are being nice and normal. If they don’t accept that they push you to be the other way. I don’t want to be that way, because we didn’t put a gun to the head of Matt Sparrow or Vincelot to sign.

“We agreed, in a friendly way, a contract and we need to respect it. Also, we respect a lot and we help a lot when they are professionals like Matt and Romain. If it was a bad professional or a nightmare to deal with as a person they would probably be training with the kids.

“That’s what I mean when I say nice. Sometimes we are too nice and it looks like nobody wants to leave the football club.”

Other unspecified players are in a similar situation to Sparrow and Vincelot, including, The Argus understands, Ryan Harley and Will Hoskins, after Poyet held talks with each member of the squad at the end of last season.

He added: “I am not going to say names but we’ve told everyone where they are, then the players have made their own decision. That’s fine.

“There are probably similar situations (to Sparrow and Vincelot) but not as drastic.”