ALBION boss Gus Poyet is planning a winter mini-break for key players like captain Gordon Greer and Liam Bridcutt to protect them from burnout.

Centre-half Greer and defensive midfielder Bridcutt have played every minute of every match so far this season.

They will be leading figures again at Derby tomorrow, the last match before another international interruption.

The Seagulls have 16 matches in just over ten weeks after that, without any more splits in the schedule for World Cup qualifiers, which could mean rests for their busiest players.

Poyet told The Argus: “With the international breaks in-between you can take that chance to play four, five, six games with the same seven or eight players.

“Come November, December and January, when there are no breaks, then we need to be smart.

“For example, until now, apart from Tomasz (Kuszczak) which is normal for the goalkeeper, Gordon and Liam Bridcutt have played practically every minute and we need to be careful.

“We need to make sure we know how to manage that. If that happens in January or November and December it could be dangerous. It depends on your body but you need to manage that in a different way. I think the squad this year will give us the chance to do it.”

Lewis Dunk has been a regular on the bench as centre-half cover for Greer and Adam El-Abd, while the imminent return of Andrew Crofts from hamstring trouble will give Poyet more scope to rotate in central midfield.

Croft has not been named in the Wales squad for their forthcoming World Cup qualifiers against Scotland and Croatia due to his injury.