Albion manager Micky Adams is looking forward to a more relaxed summer, free from wholesale chopping and changing.

A big turnaround in the playing staff during the close season has been par for the course for the Seagulls, until now.

Only seven players are out of contract this time and at least three of those are bound to be offered fresh terms.

The transfer-listed trio of Darren Carr, Mark Cartwright and Rod Thomas are certain to go. Carr is on loan at relegation-threatened Carlisle for the rest of the season after similar stints at Rotherham and Lincoln.

Adams has made sure the centre half won't come back to haunt him by insisting on a clause which prevents Carr from playing when the teams meet at Brunton Park a week on Saturday.

'People's Player' Thomas and keeper Cartwright have not figured since going on the list.

Will Packham, Albion's No. 3 shot-stopper, has done enough to earn another contract, although one of Adams' summer targets will be another keeper to increase competition for the ever-improving Michel Kuipers.

Skipper Paul Rogers and fellow midfielder Steve Melton will both get new deals, which leaves Adams facing one major dilemma.

Darren Freeman has endured a miserable campaign after topping the scoring charts last term. The Brighton-born front man did not exactly endear himself to the boss by demanding a transfer, despite a subsequent change of heart.

The prospect of a third hernia operation, which has ruled him out for the rest of the season, hardly helps Freeman's cause.

Adams may forgive, if not forget, his fit of pique at being dropped for the home game against Blackpool.

No fewer than 17 of the squad will still be under contract, discounting the loose arrangement Adams has with Phil Stant. That list is, of course, headed by Bobby Zamora, who has three years left.

Former Albion boss Liam Brady is the latest addition to the Zamora fan club.

He was in the crowd at Withdean on Tuesday when Zamora bagged his 26th goal of the season against Lincoln.

Brady, Arsenal's head of youth development, said: "He is obviously a very impressive young player. I have seen him a couple of times now, although not in any official capacity.

"He has a good physique and stature and is only going to get stronger, because he is still quite a leggy boy. He is good in the air, although he had a couple of headers he maybe could have scored with on Tuesday.

"He is quite quick as well with a good left foot and he took his goal very well, but he will be kicking himself that he didn't get another two. All in all he is a real asset to the club and I hope they can keep him. He is the type of player to help them challenge again next season."

During his reign Adams has extended the contracts of Gary Hart, Danny Cullip, Paul Watson and Charlie Oatway.

They each have two years left, as do Paul Brooker, Richard Carpenter and Matthew Wicks.

Kuipers, Andy Crosby, Nathan Jones, Kerry Mayo, Lee Steele, Scott Ramsay and Adam Virgo all have a year remaining, while YTS scholars Daniel Marney and Shaun Wilkinson have just been awarded one-year pro deals.

A reversal of the Albion trend for sweeping changes is part of a deliberate long-term policy by Adams to introduce some cohesion.

"I don't think you can keep changing personnel ten and 11 at a time every year," he said.

"You have got to have some sort of stability and get players you hope will perform in the next division. Certain players are still out of contract, but the majority of the squad is settled. The last two or three years have been manic and that is not good for any club. It takes you so long to achieve a squad."