Lee Steele is eager to end his FA Cup duck against his old club Shrewsbury.

Steele was Shrewsbury's top scorer for three seasons in succession before signing for Albion and he has scored half-a-dozen goals for the Seagulls this term.

FA Cup glory has always eluded Bobby Zamora's strike partner, but he is hoping that will change at Withdean on Saturday.

"I've never scored in the FA Cup, not even in the qualifying rounds for Bootle or Northwich," Steele revealed. "It would be nice to score against Shrewsbury.

"I've not scored for a few weeks now and I hope something falls for me. I've had chances, but I haven't taken them."

Steele, 28 next month, hit 37 goals in 113 outings for Shrewsbury before former Albion boss Micky Adams snapped him up on a Bosman free transfer in the summer of 2000.

The powerfully built Liverpudlian was used as a substitute when the Seagulls tamed the Shrews 4-0 in Division Three at Withdean a year ago.

He also came off the bench in the return at Gay Meadow in May as a jaded Albion finished their triumphant campaign with a 3-0 defeat.

"The crowd slated me," Steele said. "But when the whistle went and they rushed onto the pitch they were okay then.

"That's what happens now with the Bosman ruling. You can leave a club and they think you are a traitor.

"I felt as though I had to move on. They had plans for the future and it would have been nice to be part of them, but I felt I was going stale there and needed a change.

"They seem to have turned it around and I am happy for them. Kev (Kevin Ratcliffe) is a good manager and they've got a good bunch of young lads."

Shrewsbury's former Albion keeper Mark Cartwright is sidelined by a ban, but Steele expects to be marked by one of his closest friends from the Third Division club.

"The centre half is suspended so Andrew Tretton, one of my best mates, will be coming in," Steele explained. "That's something to look forward to. I speak to him all the time.

"We've just got to get the job done. It's going to be hard. They are doing quite well, although they have fallen away of late.

"Upsets happen in the Cup, everyone knows that. We have just got to try and kill them off."

Steele has not scored since a double in Peter Taylor's opening game in charge against Oldham last month, but he set up Zamora's winner against Port Vale last Saturday.

Albion's 1-0 victory completed a hat-trick of shut-outs in the League at Withdean.

"It wasn't a very good performance last Saturday and a lot of credit has to go to the defence again for another clean sheet," Steele ackowledged. "They have been superb."

Taylor has fond memories of the FA Cup from his playing days with Albion's arch-rivals Crystal Palace.

"The best year I ever had playing was 1976, when we got to the semi-finals," he said.

"It's every players' dream to play in an FA Cup final and we thought we were going to do it as a Third Division team.

"In the fifth round we beat Chelsea at Chelsea and I scored a couple of goals. We won at Sunderland in the quarter-finals but then lost to Southampton, who won it in the end by beating Manchester United 1-0.

"That was a great year for Palace, playing then at effectively the same level as we are at Brighton now.

"I watched Brighton's 1983 final against Manchester United at home in Southend and listened to the replay on holiday in Cyprus.

"I know Gordon Smith still takes a bit of stick for not scoring, but I actually thought it was a brilliant save by Gary Bailey."

Palace's achievement 25 years ago was emulated last season by Albion's Second Division rivals Wycombe Wanderers, who beat Taylor's Leicester in the quarter-finals.

The Seagulls have made an instant exit in five of the last eight seasons, three of them against non-League opposition, so maybe they are Taylor-made for a long overdue FA Cup run.

More Seagulls stuff at thisisthealbion.co.uk