Brian Horton is not expecting a rough reception when he brings Port Vale to Withdean in the Second Division next season.

The former Seagulls skipper and manager believes the majority of Albion fans understand why he left to rejoin the Potteries club.

Horton was in charge of Albion for just under a year. He lifted them from next-to-bottom to a play-off place while playing home games at Gillingham and made a profit in the transfer market.

Some supporters are reluctant to forgive him, despite his popularity as captain during the golden era of the late Seventies and early Eighties, when the Seagulls soared from the Third to the old First Division.

Horton, preparing Vale for tomorrow's LDV Vans Trophy final against Brentford at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, said: "Sod's law means we will probably be playing Brighton at Withdean in our first match next season.

"The majority of fans know what I feel about the club and that I started the ball rolling when I came back. I would hope there will not be a problem and I don't think there will be. I have great respect for the fans and I think they have for me.

"It will be ironic for me, because I ran the Sunday team Westdene at Withdean for four or five years when I played for Brighton. I shall look forward to coming back. I have still got a lot of friends down there."

Horton does not regret his decision to leave Albion, but he is thrilled they have been promoted.

He said: "Had they been back at Withdean earlier then I might have stayed. Who knows?

"It was tough going to Gillingham and I think a lot of people understand why I didn't stay.

"You have to make a decision and stand by it. Port Vale were in the First Division then and I was wondering how long we would be at Gillingham and how far the club could go.

"It was a football decision. People said it was about other things, but it wasn't.

"It was like when I was a player at Brighton. I had a year left on my contract and I didn't want to go to Luton, but you have to analyse things.

"It wasn't a snap decision made on a whim, it was a massive decision for me to make.We still got good crowds at Gillingham, which speaks absolute volumes for the fans.

"I miss them and the club, because it has played a big part in my football life.

"I am probably more delighted than anybody that they have been promoted and for the Board and Dick (Knight), who has got the club going again. The way I feel about the club hasn't changed.

"They shouldn't be down in that League and if they were still at the Goldstone they would be getting crowds of 20,000."

Horton made over 200 League appearances for Vale before joining Albion in the mid-Seventies.

Vale went down last season, his first relegation in almost two decades as a manager, and were threatening to suffer the same fate this season until a dramatic transformation.

A club record five straight away wins and six straight clean sheets helped Horton to the manager-of-the-month award for February and they beat arch-rivals Stoke on the way to tomorrow's showpiece final for the lower divisions.

Horton said: "We had to knock the wage bill down and we don't have the crowd potential of Brighton. I have produced virtually a brand new and very young team that cost almost nothing.

"We have lost one in 18 now and that was at Millwall, where we should have won as well. I am pleased with the football we are playing and the results and this final has projected the club again."

Horton, 52, knows how tough management is, so he has great respect for the achievement of Micky Adams.

He said: "This is my 19th season in management and it gets harder and harder. The public and media pressure is ten times worse than when I first started.

"Brighton will now be expected to push on in the next division. Micky has done a tremendous job and I am pleased for him and people like Martin Hinshelwood and Dean Wilkins, who I put in charge of the youth set-up.

"I saw Dean the other day at Wigan when Brighton's game at Halifax was called off and I also watch out for the results of the reserves and the kids.

"We got that side of things going and Micky has carried it on. Credit to him and the directors for that, because it does take money."