Sebastien Pocognoli is convinced he will get a chance to help Albion’s promotion push – despite the fine form of his fellow left-back.

Pocognoli underlined his match fitness with a lively 90 minutes for the under-23s at Stevenage on Tuesday, watched by first team boss Chris Hughton.

That followed a Championship debut at Ipswich seven days earlier when Hughton was prepared to take him off in the final 20 minutes after months without a full game.

The Belgium international, who also had an hour against Reading in the League Cup recently, said: “I played at Ipswich and felt good but I need more games.

“It is all about minutes and at Ipswich it was just important to stay on the pitch.

“Let’s say to the gaffer ‘I’m there, I’m ready to compete for 90 minutes’.

“I wanted to give a signal and then, on Tuesday, to continue that and get confidence in my body.

“It was a good opportunity to play against good players.”

Pocognoli is confident he will be required by the Seagulls, despite Gaetan Bong’s recent return to top form.

He said: “That’s the competition. If you play high in the table for promotion, you need a big squad.

“We have good players in every position – and we have competition.

“I will be part of the team at some time.”

Pocognoli would ideally have been with his international squad rather than playing in front of 500 spectators in the much-maligned Checkatrade Trophy.

He said: “I didn’t have a lot of games like this in my career because I had more important games.

“But, at every moment, you want the game you need – and this is the game I needed.

“I hope to help the first team as quick as possible.”