After a slight wobble over the Christmas period the Seagulls have now maintained their composure in the league, and are well in the mix for a promotion place come May.

They may have finished in a lowly 20th position last season but Chris Hughton's side were the quickest out of the blocks this term, and maintained an impressive 21-game unbeaten run until they were finally defeated by promotion rivals Middlesbrough at the AMEX.

Along with Sheffield Wednesday, Brighton are one of the surprise packages in the Championship this season.

Last season the south coast side endured a miserable campaign and many wouldn't have expected them to be battling for a spot in the top two, despite the fact that prior to last season, they had made the play-offs for two seasons in a row.

Regardless of whether they are able to finally make it to the Premier League or not, they should be proud of their efforts and Chris Hughton will be confident of getting them to the top flight in the near future.

Hughton may already have one eye on making reinforcements in the summer and he may be tempted to try and encourage former players to help them next season - whether that's in the top division or in the Championship.

Football League World writer Alex Grove takes a look at FIVE ex-Brighton players who Hughton could try to sign when the transfer window opens in June.......

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PRESS THE IMAGE BELOW TO SEE THE FIVE PLAYERS!

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Will Buckley

Buckley enjoyed three successful years at Brighton before making the move north to Sunderland in 2014 for £2.5m.

However the winger has struggled for game-time with the Premier League side and has been loaned out to Leeds United and Birmingham City this season.

He's currently at the Blues until the end of the season and scored his first goal for Gary Rowett's men in a 3-0 win over Ipswich.

If Blues don't try to poach the 26-year-old themselves then Brighton could definitely make a move for Buckley and probably get him at a snippet of the price that they originally let him go for.

His future at Sunderland looks rather bleak, however the Black Cats may try to keep hold of him if they are relegated to the Championship.

This season, Bobby Zamora has returned to the Seagulls to try and reignite his career and has scored 7 goals in 25 appearances for Hughton's side.

Buckley would no doubt appreciate the opportunity to move back to the south coast and try and get his career going once again.

Leonardo Ulloa

This would be an ambitious coup but if Chris Hughton's side can make the leap to the Premier League having Ulloa in their ranks once again would help them to survive in the top flight.

During his time at Brighton, he scored an impressive 23 goals in 50 games and helped the club make the play-offs for two seasons in a row.

As a result of his fine performances, newly-promoted Leicester took a gamble on the 29-year-old and paid £8m for his services.

In his debut season, he only missed one game for the Foxes and scored 11 league goals to help them avoid relegation.

Due to the form of Jamie Vardy and Shinji Okazaki, the Argentinian forward has been forced to make an impact from the bench this campaign - something he did at the weekend when he scored an 89th minute winner for the league leaders against Norwich.

Depending on how the rest of the season pans out for both teams, Ulloa might find that he is pushed even further out of the picture - especially if Leicester do the unthinkable and win the Premier League.

The Argentinian might not fancy dropping a division, but if Brighton can make the jump to the top flight, Ulloa might fancy rejoining the Seagulls.

He'd be welcomed with open arms at the AMEX and he'd be a reliable goalscorer for a newly-promoted team such as Brighton.

Liam Bridcutt

Another ex-Seagulls player who made the move to Sunderland, Bridcutt - like Buckley - has struggled to lay down his marker at the Stadium of Light.

In the past two seasons he has only made 20 appearances for the Black Cats and has been loaned out to Leeds this campaign to get some regular football under his belt.

Although he handed in a transfer request to force through a move away from the south coast two years ago, the midfielder has recently said that he would consider a move back to the club where he made 132 appearances.

Albion fans have got mixed feelings towards the 26-year-old after his exit in 2014, but after expressing his desire to return, Brighton may find themselves in need of a midfielder and Bridcutt could quite easily slot back in at the AMEX in the summer.

Craig Noone

Noone was a fan-favourite during his short spell with Brighton as he helped the Seagulls make a return to the Championship in the 2010-2011 campaign.

He made just shy of 60 appearances for the south coast club and scored 4 goals before making the move across the border to join Cardiff for £1m in 2012.

With the Bluebirds he was able to help the Welsh side get promoted and enjoyed a taste of top flight action in Cardiff's solitary season in the Premier League.

Cardiff are currently under a transfer embargo and may be forced to sell some of their best players in order to balance the books.

Noone could be one of those to leave Wales in the summer and Brighton could definitely exploit Cardiff's situation and make a move for the the tricky winger.

 

Ashley Barnes

Barnes enjoyed four excellent years at Brighton as he made 141 appearances for the Seagulls and scored 42 goals.

In 2014, Sean Dyche brought the Austrian under-20 striker to Turf Moor and Barnes played a small role in helping the club to the Premier League.

In the top-flight, Barnes played in all but 3 of the Clarets' fixtures and bagged himself five goals as the club were ultimately relegated back to the Championship.

However Barnes suffered a double blow as he suffered knee cruciate ligament injuries in the final-day win over Aston Villa.

The 26-year-old hasn't played since and is having to cheer his team on from the sidelines.

Should Burnley achieve promotion - perhaps at the expense of Brighton - Barnes may find himself too far down the pecking order once he has recovered from injury.

In such an instance, a move to the Championship may benefit the forward and Chris Hughton may take the plunge and bring Barnes back to the AMEX so that he can regain fitness and help the Seagulls next season.

Brighton fans - do you agree with my picks? Are there any players that you think should be on this list? 

Let us know your thoughts by commenting below!