Guy Butters today pitched in to the debate over Albion's poor home form by putting some of the blame on the playing surface.

The Seagulls' veteran skipper believes the way the pitch has deteriorated since Christmas has contributed to the wretched run of results at Withdean.

Albion's home record has been pretty average throughout the campaign but they took 15 points from the first 11 games up to December and have taken only eight points in 11 matches since then.

Butters said: "We try, there is just as much effort at home but things don't seem to be happening for us.

"It might be something to do with the atmosphere and, I am not trying to make excuses about the pitch, but we had a session yesterday on Astroturf where you know the bounce is going to be true.

"It was probably the best training session I've ever had at the club. Some of the play and passing was brilliant.

"We like to get the ball down and play and pass but if the pitch is not letting you do that then you have to find other ways of coping.

"Unfortunately, nine times out of ten, that means just getting the ball forward as quickly as you can and no one really likes to see that style of play."

Butters' theory is given credence by Albion's performance in narrow defeat at Swansea last Saturday, on a pristine pitch at the Liberty Stadium.

It was a vast improvement on the home defeat by lowly Bradford a week earlier, which began before a ball had been kicked with Dean Cox and Jake Robinson coming under fire from fans and ended with Adam El-Abd exchanging gestures and four-letter words with supporters in the South Stand. Butters said: "Everyone is well aware of the last home game and what went on before and after. Obviously we don't want a repeat performance of that.

"I can understand why people get frustrated. We are in a results game I suppose and we have got to turn performances into wins.

"It has happened quite a lot this season. We have gone through various stages of the season losing lots of games on the trot.

"If we had got one, two or three wins out of them who knows where we would be, pushing for the play-offs probably, so we know we are not that far away from being a really good side. I think the performances have been there. In the last home game we had something like 70 per cent of the play but just couldn't get the ball in the net.

"At Swansea we went through a mad 20-minute spell in the first half where we could have conceded quite heavily but after that we bossed the game."

Tomorrow's final Withdean visitors Oldham have the promotion jitters, while Albion are still not quite guaranteed League One football next season following four straight defeats. A point against the Latics or at Cheltenham on the last day will do the job, irrespective of results elsewhere.

Three of the four relegation spots are already filled from Albion's perspective - by Brentford, Rotherham and Chesterfield.

Bradford can still catch them but they would have to win at Chesterfield tomorrow and at home to Millwall and turn around a seven goal difference.

Even in that unlikely event Albion still have Orient and Bournemouth a point below them and a two-point lead over Cheltenham.

Orient face Nottingham Forest at home and Huddersfield away, Bournemouth host Gillingham and travel to Port Vale, while Cheltenham go to Rotherham ahead of the Seagulls' visit.

Butters wants to remove any lingering fears tomorrow by matching or bettering the 1-1 draw at Boundary Park in December, which lifted Albion to the giddy heights of tenth, just four points away from the play-off place former leaders Oldham are now clinging onto.

"They will probably come here and do exactly what Bradford did, get a lot of men behind the ball and try to hit us on the break," Butters said. "That is what a lot of teams have done against us this season and they have made it very difficult for us to break them down.

"A draw away from home will probably be good for them, although at this stage of the season they need all the points.

"It will be interesting to see if we can keep it tight then, the longer the game goes on, they will probably have to come at us a bit more and change their formation.

"It would be nice to get an early goal and maybe get them to come at us a bit more. We can play around them then.

"I have been in teams before pushing for the play-offs where we thought we were in and lost. Swansea are breathing down their necks and I cannot see why we can't do just as well against Oldham."