Albion's humiliating 5-0 thrashing at Crystal Palace is the new low point of a disappointing season for the Seagulls.

It doesn't get any lower than this now. Things can only get better, that's the only positive I can gleam from Brighton's sorry display.

Albion and their fans should not give up hope altogether. It is getting bleaker each week but the players have not become bad overnight.

Their confidence is extremely low, however, fortunes can change quickly in football as Arsenal have illustrated.

One moment the Gunners were hoping to go through the season unbeaten, the next, they have lost four games on the spin.

The Brighton players will be hurting after last Saturday and keen to prove they are still proficient.

When I was at Tottenham we got stuffed 7-0 at Liverpool and our keeper saved a penalty.

I was on the bench and was initially itching to get on. However when we went 3-0 down I quickly changed my tune and was relieved I wasn't out there!

Kick out the drugs cheats
An unnamed professional footballer tested positve for the banned anabolic steroid nandrolone this week.

It is the first case of its kind in English football but it doesn't surprise me.

On the continent, Jaap Stam, Frank de Boer, Edgar Davids, Fernando Couto and Pep Guardiola have all received bans after testing positive for nandrolone in the past.

The Football Association has confirmed it is investigating the case but will not reveal the name of the player, his nationality or which division he plays in.

It is believed, however, that he is from a Nationwide League club.

We have had testing now since 1978 and I am actually surprised more footballers don't test positive.

Players are desperate to succeed now, more so than ever before.

They have to be fitter than ever and there is tremendous pressure on them to be the best and to get into the team.

The financial incentives are enormous and too many young, impressionable players do not appreciate the long-term damage they can do to their bodies.

Players put tremendous pressure on themselves and it is not necessarily the coaches and backroom staff pulling the strings.

When I was a player everyone wanted to be in the first team and you were always looking for an edge over your opponent.

Unfortunately taking drugs to aid performance is an obvious continuity of this trend.

It is wrong, but I fear there will always be some desperate soul willing to do anything to try to further his career.

With the bigger squads nowadays, competition to get in the team is fierce and after the ITV Digital deal went belly-up, there are more players out of work than ever before.

People look at professional football and think all the players are rolling in it but the millionaire stars are just the tip of the iceberg.

Most people in the street will earn more in a year than many players in Division One, Two and Three.

Playing football for a living is not as glamourous as it appears and as we know, some of the players are not the brightest.

Perhaps the solution would be to give the young apprentices more advice when they are finding their way in the game.

The PFA and the clubs are doing more work with players on their diets and how to look after their bodies but I hope their syllabus includes drugs too.

Despite the plethora of reasons that might lead a player to take drugs, it is still inexcusable.

Footballers are role models and this is the worst possible example to set young players.

The campaign to kick racism out of football is in full swing, let's hope they can remove drugs too.

Saturday November 2