BRIGHTON & Hove Albion boss Chris Hughton has warned his side to forget any idea they will be given an easy ride by Blackburn Rovers today.

Rovers slipped 11 points behind the play-offs on Tuesday night when they let a half-time 2-1 lead slip to go down 3-2 at home to sixth-placed Brentford.

But while Hughton seems to believe a top-six finish is now beyond Gary Bowyer’s boys, he feels the fact that they have a big FA Cup quarter-final replay with Liverpool coming up next month will make them especially motivated for this afternoon’s Ewood Park encounter.

“Irrespective of the fact that they are middle of the table, they will still want to finish as high as possible,” said Hughton, who won the Championship with Newcastle United in 2010 before guiding Birmingham City into the play-offs two years later.

“They have got a break after this game, then a quarter-final replay and I would presume places are up for grabs.

“They’ve got a good squad so they’ll want to play as well as possible and I would think everybody that plays will want to stake a claim to play in that big game.

“So I don’t expect them to ease up. I expect it to be as tough as any game at this stage.”

Hughton has hauled the Seagulls eight points clear of the bottom three since taking over the Amex hotseat on New Year’s Eve, replacing Sami Hyypia, who resigned before Christmas after just six months in charge.

But they remain in relegation trouble after failing to win any of their previous six away games.

Rovers boss Bowyer said: “I’ve a hell of a lot of respect for Chris Hughton and what he’s done in his managerial career.

“He’s gone in there and turned things around for them.

“We know it’s going to be a difficult game because they’ve got some very good players there.

“But it’s one we have to bounce back in.”