Albion's fight to win back Championship status is already well under way beneath the King Alfred sports centre on Hove seafront.

In an underground boxing gym, short on luxury and big on sweat, Scott Welch is putting the Seagulls' young stars through their paces twice a week for the rest of the month.

The former world heavyweight title contender from Shoreham is dragging top prospects like Joel Lynch and Joe Gatting up off the canvas following the knockout blow of relegation from the Championship and toughening them up for the rough and tumble of life in League One next season.

The setting is appropriately spartan. After all, the dressing rooms at Saltergate, home of Chesterfield, will not be quite so welcoming as those at The Madekjsi and The Walkers Stadium.

It is a unique experiment - mixing the most brutal and most popular of mainstream sports - but Welch is convinced it will work.

"I've always thought it would be a good thing for some of the footballers," he said. "If they have a bad day they can usually make up for it the next Saturday, where as if you have a bad night as a boxer that's you done for a little while.

"They are obviously very fit and determined kids but it is going to be interesting to see how they work as individuals, what kind of stuff they can do and how far they think they can go.

"I used to know a few of the footballers like Teddy Sheringham when I was based in Essex. If these guys want to get to that level they've got to get more mental and realise it's not all play, it's a very serious business.

"You are always looking for an edge in boxing and hopefully I can push through the barriers with these players and just give them a little bit extra for the next time they play."

The idea, as The Argus revealed exclusively last month, was conceived when Albion manager Mark McGhee was invited to an amateur boxing show in Copthorne, attended by Mike Tyson and co-promoted by Welch.

Impressed by the resolve of the young fighters on display, McGhee felt his highly-rated rookies could benefit both physically and mentally from working with Welch.

The sessions started last week, with McGhee, his assistant Bob Booker, reserve team coach Dean White and conditioner Matt Miller overseeing a seven-strong group of players, including first team regulars Dean Hammond and the fit-again Adam Hinshelwood.

Welch took them through the basics of boxing - how to stand, how to move, how to punch - before giving them a close-up view of a competitive sparring session between two of his fighters.

The sessions are being run in conjunction with a weights programme for the players through the summer, designed to build up body strength for the rigours of the League One campaign.

The Albion youngsters are about to be tested like they have never been tested before.

"I always trained what we call in boxing oxygen depth," Welch said. "When you are blowing really hard you just carry on. The body is an amazing thing and if these guys have never really trained in oxygen depth they won't know that they can actually do a lot more.

"We are going to have a little boxing tournament at the end as well. We might just turn out the lights and let them have a free-for-all!"