Brighton boy Russell Martin knows all about the euphoric scenes back home.

He has seen the videos and heard first hand of the party in the streets on Monday night.

Now the Norwich City skipper aims to keep further celebrations on hold for a few days.

He would love to give his own club’s fans something to ease memories of their awful afternoon at the Amex.

Martin has played down any talk of revenge for that 5-0 drubbing, one of the landmark results in the Seagulls’ promotion season.

But he makes no secret of his desire to deny Albion the title tonight.

He recognises Norwich, who cannot now make the play-offs, have under-achieved this season but he hopes to enjoy an upbeat night under the lights at Carrow Road.

Martin told The Argus: “I am really pleased for Chris (Hughton) and the club who I supported as a boy. I know a lot of people connected with Brighton so I am really pleased for them.

“But I really don’t want them to come to our place and win the league, it’s as simple as that. We are disappointed with our own season. We shouldn’t be where are with the squad we have got.

“We are on TV, we are playing against the team who will be champions and we owe our fans a performance. We owe it to Alan (Irvine), who has come in as manager until the end of the season.

“We have a new structure in place and everyone is on trial at the minute. Do well in this game and it will mean big things for us.”

The Argus:

Albion fans will remember visiting Leicester City just after the Foxes had celebrated promotion three years ago and winning 4-1 (pictured above). They might be wary of something similar given the celebrations since Monday afternoon.

On the other hand, when Albion clinched promotion in a Tuesday night game against Dagenham in 2011, they recovered quickly enough to win at Walsall and secure the title four days later.

“It can go either way,” Martin said. “They might subconsciously relax a little after what they have achieved.

“I was getting loads of beery videos from some of my mates who were out on the town on Monday night with some of the players.

“They will have enjoyed it and you have got to. Loads of players go through their careers not experiencing something like that, especially getting into the Premier League.

“But I know how professional Chris is and I know what he will expect from them. He will want the league won as early as possible.

“The fans will be in party mode and we want to stop them doing that.”

The Argus:

Norwich were humiliated at the Amex and that might be another driving force tonight.

Defeat to the tune of 5-0 in front of family and friends hurt Martin as much as anyone.

He was the only Norwich player to come out and face the media afterwards and he was clearly seething.

But he said: “I don’t think we will make a big deal of it. It is more for our supporters who travelled down that day.

“We took a massive following and we let them down massively. We let ourselves down.

“I’m not a big fan of saying ‘We owe them one’ and stuff like that. But we don’t want them to come here and win and I’m sure at some point it will be brought up in the build-up the the game.”

So the stage is set. The under-achievers aiming to restore pride against the team arguably greater than the sum of its parts who want to secure the title.

The Argus:

There is also the landmark of Martin’s 300th Norwich appearance. He marked the 200th, also against Albion, with a thunderous goal in a 3-3 draw (pictured above).

And there is another ingredient – the triumphant returning manager.

Many Norwich fans have been critical of Hughton’s tactical approach and were cynical about his appointment at the Amex.

So how do the Canaries faithful respond to him going back tonight?

“I hope Chris gets a good reception,” Martin said.

“I am pretty confident he will. I think people will respect the job he has done at Brighton and the work he put in at our place.

“You will always get your small minority who have different opinions, but, regardless of what anyone thinks of Chris as a manager, they know what a good person he is and will respect him for that.”

A group of Sussex youngsters will enjoy their trip to Norwich, no matter how Albion get on. Members of the thriving Russell Martin Academy, based around the Brighton area, will watch the game tonight, stay over and play at the Canaries’ academy tomorrow.
Martin said: “The academy is going brilliantly. We have got a few players on trial at professional clubs and the grass roots stuff is really developing. We’ll have the elite boys coming up and I will be at their games on Saturday.”