Hughton expects "minimal" movement in January transfer window

Hughton would love to bring in a new striker, having failed to land one in the summer, and has been persistently linked with Celtic forward Moussa Dembele.

The promoted Seagulls currently lie 12th despite scoring just 15 goals in 20 Premier League matches.

But when asked if a forward was his priority, Hughton said: " Not necessarily.

"What we do have is an obligation to finish January with the best squad we can.

"We've done fairly well, we probably surprised ourselves a little bit with a very good period and then had a more difficult period.

"So anything we do will be minimal. The striker has been mentioned more because of the summer, most people are aware we tried in the summer and weren't able to.

"But any move for a striker would have to be right for this club to do anything."

Hughton rotated his squad for the 2-0 Boxing Day defeat at Chelsea with one eye on more winnable games against Newcastle and Bournemouth coming up.

First up is a long trip to St James' Park to face the Magpies, the club which gave Hughton his first job in management.

Hughton guided Newcastle to promotion in 2010 but he was sacked the following December with them lying 12th.

Nevertheless, Hughton admits visits back to Tyneside will always be special to him.

"Very much so, it was the club which gave me my first opportunity to manage and that's something I'm always very grateful for, it will always hold a special place," he said.

"I've been back on a couple of occasions since and it's always enjoyable to go back there, but mostly you want to go back and play well enough to get a result.

"It's still a difficult place to go, it's a wonderful stadium, a full stadium who want to get behind their team.

"Whatever problems they have had they always get through it, and that makes them very tough opposition."