The forward Albion fans dubbed 'The Bear' delivered a grizzly warning for his old club today.

Richie Barker believes it will become progressively more difficult for the Seagulls to claw their way to Championship survival all the while they are playing at Withdean.

Tomorrow's visitors Rotherham have been swimming against the financial tide in the First Division for the past three seasons.

Now they are hopelessly adrift at the foot of the table and seem certain to sink into League One.

The explanation provided by Barker, who left Rotherham for Mansfield last week, could just as easily apply to Albion.

It is another demonstration of why the Seagulls so desperately need a positive, mood-changing result next year when the public inquiry re-opens into their plans for a stadium at Falmer.

"We were punching well above our weight for a long time and you can only do that for so long unless things move both on and off the pitch," Barker said.

"The average gate this year is 5,500. When we first went up it was 7,500. It's inevitable that you cannot sustain competing against the likes of Sunderland and West Ham.

"It gets harder and harder and I think the First Division is getting stronger and stronger. Look at Leicester, for example, and some of the players they have got, yet they are only mid-table.

"It's not impossible to survive and I am not saying if Brighton don't get a stadium in three years they will go down, but we have seen clubs like Grimsby and Stockport fall by the wayside and it is becoming harder to sustain First Division status on low gates.

"Gillingham are also having a difficult time of it this season. Two years ago we finished 15th and were never in the bottom six. We thought we could kick on from there, but it is difficult.

"At Rotherham we had 20 pros. If we had three injuries and suspensions you were down to the apprentices.

"We tried to get players in on loan and couldn't even afford that. No doubt Brighton are in a similar position."

Barker was familiar with adversity at Albion. His 12 goals in 60 League games coincided with two seasons of groundsharing at Gillingham in the old Third Division.

The Sheffield-born striker, 29, has maintained his southern links through wife Tracy. They met when he was playing for the Seagulls and were both living in Southwick.

Father-of-two Barker is hoping to be at Withdean tomorrow to watch the key clash between two of his former employers, as Mansfield are not involved in the second round of the FA Cup.

He reckons his recent colleagues will be reinvigorated by their first win of the season against Leeds at Millmoor on Monday.

"A lot of it was a mental barrier," Barker said. "I started 18 of the first 19 games this season.

"In the third game we were 1-0 up at home against Stoke. They were top at the time and equalised late on. If we had won that Rotherham would maybe have 20 points by now.

"The longer we went on without winning the more people reminded us about it and the harder it became.

"If they had lost again on Monday they would have been down in the doldrums. Now they will be lifted by winning and I think it will be a close game."

Barker's move from Millmoor to Field Mill, more than five years after joining Rotherham from Macclesfield, was wrapped up in the club's financial problems and the need to reduce the wage bill.

He still had 18 months left on his contract but has joined Mansfield on a two-and-a-half year deal after 19 goals in 149 appearances for the Millers, almost half of them as a substitute.

"I signed last Thursday night, had my first training session on Friday and made my full debut at home to Orient on Saturday, so it has been a hectic few days and a hectic couple of weeks," Barker said.

"I knew something was going to happen. It was just a question of where I was going to end up.

"A couple of weeks ago Grimsby and Brentford wanted me on loan. Grimsby came back with a permanent offer, along with Bristol Rovers, Blackpool and Mansfield, which is 25 minutes from where I live.

"Rotherham were looking to cut the wage bill and freshen things up. I knew they wanted me to move on, so I had no qualms about it."

Barker is not writing off Rotherham's chances of avoiding relegation just yet. "A couple of weeks ago I would have said it was impossible, but their next three games are against Brighton, Sheffield United and Gillingham.

"If they can pick up six points and other results go their way they could be only three adrift by Christmas.

"It may seem strange, but they have got the strongest squad in my time with them. The reserves are sitting on top of their league by a mile."