Albion hotshot Bobby Zamora became accustomed to transfer speculation at Bristol Rovers.

Hardly a day went by without a story linking Rovers players to big money moves.

It wasn't Zamora attracting all the attention then. Jason Roberts and Jamie Cureton were the strikers in demand.

Roberts was eventually sold to West Brom for £2 million and Cureton to Reading for £250,000. Now Zamora finds himself in a similar position to his former team-mates.

The Argus revealed that promotion rivals Cardiff had a £1.2 million bid turned down by the Seagulls for their prolific 19-year-old.

Then came a Sunday newspaper report, rubbished by boss Micky Adams, which claimed Southampton and Newcastle had been quoted a price of £2 million.

Zamora said: "It's quite a compliment, but being at Bristol Rovers I saw Jason Roberts and Jamie Cureton getting so much hype.

"Nothing ever came of it 99 per cent of the time. I know a lot of it is rubbish, but to know Cardiff have put a bid in is nice. As for the other clubs, that is not really on my mind at the moment at all.

"It hasn't affected me, it's just the way I have been playing. You have a bad game every now and then, but we have shrugged it off in the last couple of games with two wins."

Zamora had to sit out the Boxing Day win at Barnet through suspension. His red card in the FA Cup exit at Scunthorpe meant training instead at Underhill before the match with Rod Thomas and youngster Dean Hammond.

"I've learnt my lesson," Zamora said. "Watching is definitely frustrating.

"You see your team creating a lot of chances and we could have had one or two more goals. You think maybe if you were there you might have been able to put one or two away."

Zamora put two away at Withdean in August to beat Saturday's hosts Rochdale.

He has plundered 14 more since then, although all 14 of his League goals have been scored at Albion's temporary home.

Curiously only Rochdale have won more away matches than the Seagulls, but only Darlington and Shrewsbury have scored fewer goals on their travels.

"Maybe it's to do with confidence, maybe we don't got forward enough and get enough crosses in," Zamora said.

"I think we should just relax and try to play as we do at home. Obviously that's harder, because when other teams are at home they come out of their shells and press forward.

"Maybe we should try and create a few more chances for ourselves, but at Barnet we got one goal and a win and we were happy with that. It was a good performance by all of the boys. We've had two wins, so the confidence is back up.

"I've been training hard and hopefully I can get back in the team. Rochdale are one of the candidates for promotion and it will be a tough game.

"I am not too bothered about not scoring away, as long as we get the three points."

Paul Rogers, Albion's most experienced campaigner, reckons Zamora's brief breather from the spotlight could prove to be a blessing in disguise.

The skipper said: "The pressure has been on him and he has done really well.

"People forget he is only a young boy. Maybe it has done him good to get refreshed and come back bubbling."