Albion's away revival could be under threat from a former stalwart of the club, at both ends of the pitch.

Micky Adams' men travel to Adams Park on Tuesday after recording their first away win of the season at Wrexham eight days ago.

Wycombe centre-half Paul McCarthy is hoping to be fit to face the Seagulls for the first time since he left the club for Wanderers in 1996 for £100,000.

The popular ex-Eire under 21 international was a victim of the crisis which engulfed Albion through the early and mid- Nineties, but his heart remains with the club that launched his professional career.

He served them for eight years, played 217 games and succeeded Steve Foster as skipper after he was bought from a junior club for the price of a couple of match balls.

McCarthy still lives in Sussex at Crowborough with his wife and three daughters, and the regulars at his local pub are all Albion fans.

"I haven't played against Brighton before so it will be nice," McCarthy said. "This is my sixth year at Wycombe and we haven't come across them, so I am looking forward to it.

"I've had a slight problem with my calf, but I'm hoping to be fit. It will be a nice moment and hopefully the fans will give me a good reception.

"I got on really well with them when I was down there. Towards the end the situation wasn't the brightest and it wasn't a nice time to be there, but otherwise I loved it."

McCarthy's main role will be to prevent Bobby Zamora adding to the two goals he scored at Wrexham, the first of which ended an away drought for Albion spanning 11 hours and 22 minutes.

"He is obviously a good player," McCarthy said. "You can't score the amount of goals he has if you are not.

"I have spoken to people about him and read other people's opinions and they all reckon he is going to go a long way.

"It will be difficult to keep him quiet, but Brighton's other big strength is that they are so hard to break down.

"They are strong defensively. I spoke to John Keeley last week and he was singing the praises of Michel Kuipers.

"A few of our lads went to see the game at Northampton and they said Brighton looked a really good side that night.

"They kept the ball well and the result was daylight robbery, so we are well aware of them."

Albion should be wary of McCarthy as well. He was prolific during Wycombe's shock run through to the semi-finals of the FA Cup last season, ending up as second top scorer with seven goals in all competitions.

McCarthy has struck twice at home already this season, against Wrexham and Queens Park Rangers, but he said: "It's not something I think about. I would rather keep a clean sheet and that will be difficult enough."

McCarthy, 30 last month, has played under former Albion pair John Gregory and Neil Smillie for Wycombe and he is not the only former Seagull currently at Adams Park.

Paul Emblen is best remembered by Albion fans for scoring a Boxing Day hat-trick against Colchester at Gillingham while on loan from Charlton during Steve Gritt's reign.

"Paul missed virtually two seasons with one injury after another," McCarthy said. "He is back now and playing well and he has started a few games this season up front."

Adams is looking for Albion to build on their triumph at Wrexham in a bid to maintain their lofty position.

"We rode our luck slightly there, but it was our first away victory and I hope we gain confidence from that,"he said.

"I was never worried about the run without us scoring and I have been reasonably pleased with our performances away from home, apart from at Tranmere.

"It was nice to get a couple of goals though and that will give the lads a bit more confidence to go out and play.

"I want them to be as creative as they are at home, because we have that ability to break teams open."

A centre half unlikely to be involved on Tuesday is Andy Crosby following his decision to ask for a transfer.

"I can't keep everyboy happy, that's the unfortunate thing," Adams said.

"There are going to be people who are not very pleased when they are not picked in the 11 or the 16, but I would hope when they look at the table they want to be part of it."