TOWN boss Mark Cooper has described tonight’s visitors Brighton and Hove Albion as a ‘blueprint’ for what Swindon Town are trying to achieve.

After Tony Bloom’s takeover and the appointment of Gus Poyet in 2009 the Seagulls went through a dramatic overhaul both on and off the pitch.

The Uruguayan instilled a possesion-based style of play and led Brighton into the Championship in his first full season in charge.

Despite Poyet’s departure, succeeding managers Oscar Garcia and now Sami Hyypia have continued to play in the same way and that brand of passing football has become part of the club’s identity.

Little wonder then that Cooper sees plenty of similarities between the two sides, albeit with Brighton further down the line and with a bigger revenue stream.

“Brighton are a blueprint for teams like us,” he said. “They have gone down a similar path, they are couple of years in front of us, they play some lovely football.

“It will be great, I’m looking forward to seeing them play, hopefully it will be a good evening, a good game of football.

“I think they’ve changed their managers but we won’t think they’ve changed their style for one moment. We’re under no illusions that when you play a team in a higher division and a big club like Brighton, they have good players.

“We won’t be able to take any liberties or be sloppy for any moment. For us to be able to have a chance we have to be right at it and be at the top of our game to get anything.”