By Tim Dudding

Mark McGhee this morning took his first training session without Darren Currie, after the winger's shock £250,000 move to promotion-chasing Ipswich Town.

But rather than dwell on Currie's departure, the Albion boss is taking a realistic approach to the situation by pointing out the club's financial predicament.

Speaking before training, McGhee told Seagulls World, "The future and survival of this football club has to go before any other decision. Anyone who is under the impression that we are anything other than on the brink is deluding themselves.

"That money was necessary to keep the club going and it came just at the right time, so we had to take it."

Currie made a huge impact after arriving from Wycombe on a free transfer in the summer, scoring two goals and providing many more during the first half of the season for the Seagulls.

But while McGhee has nothing but praise for the 30-year-old, the Albion manager is confident his side can regroup in time for Saturday's trip to the New Den.

"From a football point of view we've lost a player who has been a big influence. But Darren has left, we wish him luck and it's a fantastic opportunity for him.

"We'll miss him at times, but we won't miss him all the time. We went to West Ham and won 1-0 without him and we'll go to Millwall probably with the same team, so why should we be anything other than positive?"