Stephens excited by Brighton's new signings

Stephens played with Yves Bissouma for the first time in Saturday's 1-1 draw with Birmingham, after the Mali international came on for the final 20 minutes.

Bissouma scored Albion's equaliser with a stunning 20-yard free kick and Stephens said: "He's come with a lot of potential and you see in training he's got bundles of ability.

"It's exciting to bring players in like him and I'm sure he'll fit into the squad quite nicely."

Winger Alireza Jahanbakhsh is another new face at the Seagulls after joining for a club record fee last week and Stephens said: "He had the World Cup and they're (the new players) a bit behind with the training schedule but they've integrated this week and look sharp in training.

"I'm excited to play alongside these type of players."

On aims for the upcoming Premier League season, Stephens said: "Just to build on what we did (last year), that's got to be our blueprint. We finished the season quite strong and beat some of the big teams.

"We've got to take confidence from what we did last year and we've got to build on it.

"If we get a good start before Christmas, we'll just see where we end up."