Albion manager Mark McGhee revealed today the poor state of the Withdean pitch could cost at least one of his Frenchmen a place in the team.

Seb Carole and Alex Frutos were both substituted in the second half of last Saturday's 1-1 draw against Queens Park Rangers.

They struggled to make an impact on a bare and bumpy playing surface at Loftus Road and McGhee fears it could be the same story on the churned and heavily sanded Withdean pitch against Luton on Saturday.

McGhee said: "Even the pitch on Saturday played against us with the two Frenchmen, who want to get the ball down and pass it. The pitch has to put the inclusion of them in the team into question.

"It's the same as when I left Michel (Kuipers) out, because of his kicking in conditions in a lot of wind, when it was going to be difficult to get the ball out of our half.

"We had suffered that at Sheffield United, so I put Wayne (Henderson) in goal because I knew he would get the ball up the field for us.

"I picked him because of the conditions and if the conditions are the same on Saturday and the pitch is poor then we have to consider whether the two French boys should play or one of them should play."

McGhee attaches no blame to Albion's head groundsman Steve Winterburn for the way the Withdean pitch has deteriorated in recent weeks.

The stadium, owned by Brighton and Hove Council, also caters for other football matches and other sports.

"There was one day when there were three games on it," McGhee said. "It has disintegrated and I think the weather has had a huge part to do with that, because there can be no question about how hard Steve works.

"When you get to this stage of the season and there are three games on it in one day it's ludicrous but we can't have any control, which is another factor in the stadium issue."