Withdean on Saturday will be a special occasion not just for new Albion chief Steve Coppell but also his assistant.

Bob Booker will probably receive a warmer reception from the Sheffield United fans than Blades boss Neil Warnock.

Albion's No. 2 is a cult figure in the red half of the steel city. He even has a hospitality suite named in his honour at Bramall Lane.

Supporters have never forgotten the key contribution Booker made to United's resurgence under Dave Bassett.

"It's always nice to be involved against one of your old clubs," Booker said.

"I was only at Sheffield for a short time really, although it was a long time in football terms these days. It was four enjoyable years.

"I had success very quickly with a couple of promotions in those four years, which I suppose makes it a little bit special. They were good times."

That triumphant era for Sheffield United bears an uncanny resemblance to what is happening with Albion.

Booker helped the Blades to consecutive promotions from the old Third and Second Divisions between 1988 and 1990.

They struggled horribly for a while in the First, but Booker eventually guaranteed their safety.

"It was very similar to the season we are having at the moment," he said. "We went 11 or 12 games without a win and by Christmas it was pretty desperate stakes.

"Things changed around, which we hope they do here. We slowly got into a run and it went down to the second last game of the season.

"We needed a win to be safe down at QPR. I was lucky enough to score the winning goal in front of the army of Blades fans, which was really special.

"I remember the goal because everybody backed off. We had Vinnie Jones in the team and he was slinging in long throws from the halfway line.

"It was something we spoke about at half time. He took a short one instead, we got a cross in from John Pemberton and I managed to get on the end of it at the back post and stick it away."

Hero status was assured for Booker with that header. When fans decided which players should have a hospitality suite named after them, he was chosen alongside club legends like Tony Currie and Alan Woodward.

"Everybody mentions it and takes the mickey out of it, but it was just something the fans did up there," Booker explained. "It was a poll of 500 players and they were allowed to pick 35. I was lucky enough to get voted.

"It's great. I wasn't the world's best player by any means, but I was a loyal sort of player who got pushed around in different positions.

"I just gave it 100 per cent. The northern people are passionate about their football and they appreciated that.

"I still go to Sheffield now and again and the lads take the mickey about me celebrating goals that I wasn't involved in to get the fans on my side, but that's the way I felt about them.

"It was hard times at first. I was getting barracked, but that comes with the territory. Dave Bassett believed in me and kept playing me and I came through it.

"It did me the world of good to come through the bad times as well as the good times."

Booker decided to stay with Albion in the summer for similar reasons. He could have been reunited at Leicester with Micky Adams, who brought him to the Seagulls from Brentford two years ago.

Booker chose instead to stick it out in the certain knowledge that Albion were about to enter choppier waters.

"That was part of the reason I didn't want to jump ship when I had the chance to go to Leicester," he said. "I felt the club had done well for me and I had done well for them.

"It was two years of success which came quickly, possibly too quickly some people might say. I wanted to relish the challenge at the bottom end of it.

"We all knew it was going to be hard and the proof is in the pudding. It's all about now how good we are as coaching staff and how good the players are to get us out of it and I still want to be part of it."

It is just over a year since Booker and Adams were parted. Assisting four different managers in such a short space of time is surely some sort of record, but Booker is looking forward to building a new partnership with Coppell.

"I had already left Brentford by the time Steve arrived, so I haven't worked with him before.

"Obviously I was aware of him and had seen his career through the years. He's an experienced manager at this level.

"He is experienced at doing the job in the position we are in at the moment financially. It's a fresh start for him and all of us. Let's hope we get a reaction out of it.

"I will settle for the three points. It's a big game for the club, especially after having a two-week break.

"We just need to start afresh now and if we can go on the sort of run we had at Sheffield back then I would be more than happy."

Two internal appointments, Jeff Wood and Martin Hinshelwood, have backfired on chairman Dick Knight, so Booker will probably have to leave Albion to achieve his ultimate aim of becoming a No. 1.

That is the last thing on his mind at the moment. The happily married 44-year-old will not be commuting for much longer as he is selling his house in Watford.

"I like it in Brighton," he said. "I'm settled here now. I treat it as my home. Although I have still got a lot of friends and family in Watford coming home is coming back to Brighton.

"There is never a dull moment at this club. It's unbelievable, really weird; two promotions, no stadium still, four different managers. It's been a roller-coaster ride, but I'm still enjoying it."