Lewis Dunk is in contention to start Albion's Capital One Cup tie at Walsall tonight after ending the saga surrounding his future by signing a new five-year deal.
And Bobby Zamora has been pencilled in for his first involvement in the squad since rejoining the club in Saturday's table-topping Championship clash at Ipswich Town.
Albion last night announced the new contract for Dunk, keeping him at the club until June 2020.
It follows four rejected bids from Fulham for the 23-year-old centre-half, the last of which was for in excess of £5 million.
The Argus also revealed yesterday Dunk had been fined two weeks wages by the Seagulls for refusing to play in the Capital One Cup tie at Southend earlier this month.
Hughton, who will repeat tonight the widespread changes he made in the first round at Southend, said: "We made it clear to Lewis that both the club and I saw him as a key player for us and a big part of this club's future.
"For me, as manager, what is really encouraging was the desire shown by the club to extend his contract - given the level of interest from elsewhere.
"We have made it consistently clear throughout this transfer window that we wanted to keep hold of our best players and I know that isn't always easy when clubs with much bigger resources than ours express an interest in our players."
Zamora, meanwhile, has yet to figure since re-signing for Albion after a 12-year gap just before the start of the season.
"He is very, very close and I would see him available for selection very, very soon."
Asked if Zamora travels to Walsall, told The Argus: "At this moment no but we're hoping he very much comes into contention for the weekend."
Original article
And Bobby Zamora has been pencilled in for his first involvement in the squad since rejoining the club in Saturday's table-topping Championship clash at Ipswich Town.
Albion last night announced the new contract for Dunk, keeping him at the club until June 2020.
It follows four rejected bids from Fulham for the 23-year-old centre-half, the last of which was for in excess of £5 million.
The Argus also revealed yesterday Dunk had been fined two weeks wages by the Seagulls for refusing to play in the Capital One Cup tie at Southend earlier this month.
Hughton, who will repeat tonight the widespread changes he made in the first round at Southend, said: "We made it clear to Lewis that both the club and I saw him as a key player for us and a big part of this club's future.
"For me, as manager, what is really encouraging was the desire shown by the club to extend his contract - given the level of interest from elsewhere.
"We have made it consistently clear throughout this transfer window that we wanted to keep hold of our best players and I know that isn't always easy when clubs with much bigger resources than ours express an interest in our players."
Zamora, meanwhile, has yet to figure since re-signing for Albion after a 12-year gap just before the start of the season.
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"He is very, very close and I would see him available for selection very, very soon."
Asked if Zamora travels to Walsall, told The Argus: "At this moment no but we're hoping he very much comes into contention for the weekend."
Original article