He is an English manager from the Championship who has made it to the Premier League the hard way.

With an unorthodox method which could cause a few surprises.

A full-back as a player who lists Southampton among his former clubs.

But he is not Graham Potter.

Chris Wilder is one of the rivals Potter (below) will be particularly keen to get the better of in his debut season as Albion's head coach.

The Argus: The promoted trio are obvious targets for the semi-established such as the Seagulls, entering their third year in elite company.

Albion struggled against them this season under Chris Hughton, taking four points off Wolves but losing both games against Cardiff, a draw and defeat against Fulham.

Cardiff and Fulham have both gone straight back down, which emphasises the task ex-Seagull Wilder faces at his beloved Sheffield United.

Since Albion legend Bobby Zamora struck the winner for Queens Park Rangers in the play-off final against Derby County in 2013-14, seven of the 15 promoted teams have made an instant return to the second tier.

It was exceptional when Albion, Newcastle and Huddersfield all survived. In Huddersfield's case the stay has still been shortlived.

So Wilder will be fighting against the tide - but that has pretty much been the case throughout his career.

He played a brief role in the rebirth of Albion under another Sheffield United devotee, Micky Adams.

Signed from the Blades, Wilder made 13 appearances in the first season back in Brighton and Hove at Withdean in 1999-2000, following the horror of ground sharing with Gillingham, before continuing a journeyman path with Halifax.

He was part of a dressing room with strong connections to the club he serves now.

Adams said: "He put everything into his game. He trained hard, tried to make the best of his attributes.

"He was one of those players that was low maintenance. You didn't have to worry about him.

"A lad's lad, just good around the dressing room, always spoke well, old school in many respects, a big personality.

"A bit like Dodge (Paul Rogers) and the (Danny) Cullips of this world. He tried his best and when he got into management I was one of the people he spoke to often about his route, what he could do and how he could do it better."

That route shows the extent to which Wilder has grafted. While Potter carved a name for himself in Sweden with unknown Ostersund, the 51-year-old South Yorkshireman managed Alfreton in the Northern Counties East League, Halifax and Oxford in the Conference.

He took the latter back into the Football League, won the League Two title with Northampton, League One with Sheffield United and now promotion to the promised land.

The Argus: Adams (above) said: "He has done fantastic. There is a lot of call these days for modern sports science and everything else but he's just old school, says it how it is, has a system of play that suits the players.

"I think his recruitment has been spot-on and that is obviously key to any sort of success at that level. He got that right."

Potter is quieter, more in the modern day camp, with a fluid approach to the formation he uses, but Wilder will not be fazed when he confronts the Guardiolas and Klopps.

Adams said: "He's a bright boy. He'll come up with a system of play that might cause them problems.

"He's got a big thing about English and Irish players. I don't think he is going to go too far away from the sort of recruitment he has done so far but he might just have to open his horizons a little bit.

"I think they will catch teams up with their organisation and fitness. They are particularly strong set piece wise.

"I think there are going to be a few that are going to be caught out a little bit by the pace of the game they have and the system of play and the way they use it.

"It's not your normal 3-5-2, because the left-side centre-back and right-side centre-back tend to be the ones crossing the ball the most, not the wing-backs.

"I can't see him changing a great deal in the way he plays."

It will be refreshing to see two English coaches who have done the hard yards going head-to-head in the Premier League.

They will be joined by another if Dean Smith, via Walsall and Brentford, brings Aston Villa back up in tomorrow's Wembley play-off final against fast-tracked Frank Lampard's Derby.