Jan Paul Van Hecke says his “up and down” season can set him up for the future.

But he would love to play more often next term.

Albion’s Dutch defender remained on board in 2022-23 having enjoyed an impressive season on loan to Blackburn Rovers in the previous campaign.

He did not get too much game time, especially in the Premier League.

When chances came, his performances were certainly not without promise.

Pretty good in the main but with enough lapses to leave doubts too.

Or, perhaps a better way of putting it, areas to target for improvement.

He was self-critical of the way he failed to protect the far post when Albion went 2-1 down at Leicester City.

And his use of the ball under pressure needed to be better at Newcastle.

But he was also turned in some sturdy defending on occasions on that testing night on Tyneside.

Then came the big test against Erling Haaland and a night he will treasure as he helped Albion to a 1-1 draw.

So plenty to learn from a season under Graham Potter, then Roberto De Zerbi.

He said: “I had to deal with ups and downs but I think I learnt a lot.

“From going on loan and staying at the club, a lot of things happened.

“I learnt a lot about the way of playing.

“You see with this different manager and how he thinks about football.

“For me, I have learnt a lot from him and that is really good for me.

“It is a different dimension of playing football.

“I have never had this feeling before.

“You think differently about football because of this manager.

“He had done an unbelievable job.

“It’s the tactical side of the game.

“Who is the spare man? Where can you find the spaces to play and then find the spare man to play forward?

“He explained that so well and I think everyone will say that, and has helped a lot.”

Asked about tough nights such as that at Newcastle, van Hecke replied: “As I said, ups and downs, “I have not played as many games as I wanted to.

“But it is ups and downs because I am happy I have played a few games from the start.

“On the other side, you always want to play.

“But I think this season I have learnt a lot.”

Among the lessons he was asked about was facing Kaoru Mitoma in training.

The question, of course, came from one of the several Japanese reporters detailed to track Mitoma’s progress with the Seagulls.

But the answer gave an amusing insight as to how players are not just learning on matchday.

Van Hecke said: “Sometimes I go against him but I try to stay away.

“One time he was one versus one on the left and I tried to go tight on him and he took it on the outside and got a shot on target, “I didn’t come close to him, he was that fast.

“I was like next time I had better try to defend him a little more inside so I can cover the space so it says a lot about him.

“If you look in the Premier League, he is one of the best.

“Every right full-ack is having nightmares about him.

“He is so fast and he knows exactly what he is doing.”