NEW recruit Dean Hammond is delighted to be back in the Championship, and he doesn't want his return to be a short one.Midfielder Hammond will be looking to mastermind Colchester United's escape from relegation over the last three months of the season, following yesterday's £250,000 move from Brighton.

Carl Marston

NEW recruit Dean Hammond is delighted to be back in the Championship, and he doesn't want his return to be a short one.

Midfielder Hammond will be looking to mastermind Colchester United's escape from relegation over the last three months of the season, following yesterday's £250,000 move from Brighton.

“The opportunity of playing Championship football again was a real temptation,” explained Hammond last night.

“I played a lot of games at this level before with Brighton. It's a good level of football, and that's definitely somewhere that I want to be playing.

“There's some good quality players at Colchester, and I went down to the new stadium with the chairman and the manager. The new ground looks fantastic.

“I've also been very impressed with the manager (Geraint Williams). I am really looking forward to playing for him,” added Hammond, who graced the Championship with the Seagulls until their relegation in 2006.

Brighton chairman Dick Knight was disappointed to see Hammond leave.

He explained: “We did everything possible to persuade Dean to stay at the club.

“That included turning down a £200,000 bid from Colchester at the start of the window, and offering him an extremely generous new contract, with a get-out clause if we didn't get promotion this season.”

Seagulls boss Dean Wilkins admitted: "We would have liked to have kept Dean at the club, but his ambition was to return to the Championship. We have to accept his decision.”