EX-CHERRIES striker Glenn Murray reckons his former club represents a role model for Brighton in the Premier League.

Murray netted 23 times to spearhead the Seagulls' promotion campaign after returning to the club from Vitality Stadium – initally on loan – at the start of last season.

The 33-year-old joined Cherries from Crystal Palace for £4million in September 2015 but was restricted to just seven Premier League starts before moving to the Amex on loan.

Murray, who headed a memorable winner for Cherries at Chelsea, had previously scored 56 goals for Brighton between January 2008 and May 2011 before joining Palace.

While Murray's goals helped the Sussex outfit join Newcastle in winning automatic promotion, Cherries finished their second season in a club-high ninth place.

Murray told our sister paper the Brighton Argus: "They have done fantastically. It is a pretty small club but they have their brand of football, they play it and it has worked well for them in the Premier League.

"After two successful seasons, the third one is going to be difficult as well but they have added strength in depth so that is exactly what we need to do over the next three or four years."

Like Cherries two years ago, Brighton have been written off as relegation fodder as they approach their debut campaign in the Premier League.

Murray added: "A lot of people don’t look at the Championship too much compared to the ones that watch the Premier League.

"To say Bournemouth are a small club and doubtful they won't stay up is very narrow minded and they have proved a lot of people wrong, including experts.

"If you look at the seven players that played in League One for them, if you had said they would play regularly in the Premier League for two years, people would have laughed.

"You look at the likes of Harry Arter, Simon Francis, Junior Stanislas, Steve Cook, who we let go. You look at those guys and see that being a team is more than being a talented individual. They are starting to achieve great things."