Albion have issued a hands off Bobby Zamora warning to Aston Villa.

It follows a plea by Villa star Paul Merson for his club to sign the Seagulls' 25-goal wonder boy.

Merson, speaking to a national newspaper, said: "I don't know how old Brighton's Bobby Zamora is, but we should get him because he's scoring a lorry-load of goals."

Albion chief executive Martin Perry said: "The position is exactly the same as it has always been.

"We are not a selling club, but if an offer came in we would take into account the size of the bid, whether it is the right move for the player and the views of the fans.

"They are the three criteria we have always said we would lay down."

Villa have the financial muscle to make an offer Albion could not refuse and Zamora, 20, would be tempted by a move to the Premiership.

But selling him to the West Midlands giants would not go down well with supporters after Villa seized schoolboy stars Gareth Barry and Michael Standing from the Seagulls.

We revealed yesterday that Zamora and Danny Cullip are back in the squad for tomorrow's trip to relegation-haunted Halifax.

The ankle Zamora injured against Mansfield last Saturday has responded to treatment and, providing he suffers no reaction, he will play with a light plaster cast protecting the broken finger he sustained in the same match. That will now be operated on at the end of the season.

Cullip has made a rapid recovery from ankle and elbow ligament damage at Hartlepool three games ago and is likely to replace his impressive 18-year-old deputy Adam Virgo.

Adams said: "The fans and my players will be expecting to win, so I will have to remind them about Exeter away, where we thought all we had to do was turn up."

Albion's last match of the season at Shrewsbury on May 5 is all-ticket.