Rohan Ince did Albion a favour by helping Fulham hold Derby to a draw in a 45-minute debut.

Now the Seagulls are hoping for a repeat from another of their out-on-loan midfielders, Jake Forster-Caskey.

Middlesbrough, three points above Albion in second place, visit Forster-Caskey's MK Dons this evening in one of their two matches in hand.

They should win and they must go up. Their spending demands it.

During the summer, last season's beaten play-off finalists splashed out £16.1 million on Stewart Downing, David Nugent and Uruguayans Christian Stuani and Carlos de Pena.

They have just lavished a further £9 million on Jordan Rhodes, who made his debut as a late substitute in Saturday's 1-1 home draw against his former employers Blackburn Rovers.

Boro ought to finish above Albion but with expectation comes pressure.

Four weeks ago they were six points clear at the top, 11 ahead of the Seagulls. One point from the last nine, at home to Rovers and Nottingham Forest and away to Bristol City, has emphasised once again the intriguing unpredictability of the Championship.

If Boro return to the top tonight (a draw is enough to take them back above Hull) it will be interesting to see how they handle it.

In May on the final day of the season, when a lowly Albion travelled to the North-East for a sterile 0-0 draw, Boro were already resigned to the play-offs.

The same last day fixture could mean much more to both this time, particularly Boro. For them anything less than a promotion party by the final whistle will be failure.