Albion are confident Dale Stephens will knuckle down after holding onto their unsettled midfield star while missing out on adding a striker on the final day of the transfer window.

The Seagulls rejected both a transfer request from Stephens and a SIXTH bid for him by Burnley, as exclusively revealed on The Argus website yesterday.

The offer was worth well in excess of £8 million with supplementary clauses.

Albion stood their ground through to the 11pm deadline, treating Stephens’ request in the closing hours of trading as a desire to play in the Premier League rather than an indication he no longer wants to be at the Amex.

Manager Chris Hughton and the club’s hierarchy are backing Stephens, out of contract next summer, to refocus and put the saga behind him in similar vein to Lewis Dunk, whose head was turned by Fulham early last season before he agreed a new, long-term deal.

Chairman Tony Bloom resisted bids during the window worth over £20 million in total for Stephens, Dunk from Crystal Palace and Anthony Knockaert from Newcastle.

Meanwhile, attempts to sign another forward hit the buffers as other clubs similarly refused to play ball with a couple of targets.

Albion are prepared to bide their time until the window opens again in January, rather than paying over the odds, after bringing Glenn Murray back to the club on loan from Bournemouth earlier in the summer to supplement last season’s top scorer Tomer Hemed.

Manager Chris Hughton also regards some of his wingers, particularly Jiri Skalak, Jamie Murphy and Solly March, as possible secondary strikers in the 4-4-1-1 formation he often uses away from home.

Sam Baldock is suspended for Brentford’s visit to the Amex on September 10 following his red card in Saturday’s defeat at Newcastle.

That could lead to a rare place in the Championship squad for Dutch enigma Elvis Manu, who has impressed Hughton following a troubled debut season at the club and has now been thrown a lifeline to challenge for a more regular role.