Competition is key and everyone is desperate to start against Manchester City, says Rosenior

Liam Rosenior. Picture by PW Sporting Pics

Competition for places in key, but every Brighton & Hove Albion player is desperate to make their Premier League bow against Manchester City next month, according to Liam Rosenior.

It probably goes without saying, but everyone in the dressing room is building towards August 12 at the Amex.

The opening day of the season sees the Seagulls return to the top flight against Pep Guardiola's superstar side with a potential starting XI worth a cool £450million.

While Albion may not be splashing the cash like the English elite, full-back Rosenior, who has played in the Premier League with both Fulham and Hull City, says Albion are in a strong position themselves.

They fielded virtually two completely different XIs in their pre-season 6-0 drubbing of Crawley Town on Saturday and Rosenior has stressed how important it is to have that competition for a starting berth.

He said: "Everyone wants to play, everyone wants to be involved, to start that first game and stake a claim for the shirt. That is a great thing to have. You want competition for places and I am sure the club is going to bring in more faces and they will add to what we have already got.

"You have to remember that with all this talk over big-money transfers fees and things like that, we have a squad that has gained pretty much 90 points over two Championship seasons.