There will be fun and games across the airwaves tomorrow with Ahmed Elmohamady, Moses Odubajo and Eldin Jakupovic in the Hull squad visiting the Amex.

Warren Aspinall, expert summariser on Albion matches for BBC Radio Sussex, has a reputation for mispronouncing players' names.

"I do struggle and I get pulled up about it by the listeners," he said. "I have a bit of banter with the punters.

"That's my nature. I'm an easy-go-lucky man."

That is the Aspinall way. In his playing days he was a dressing room joker. He always seems to have a smile on his face.

He will be 48 on Sunday, the same age as Paul Gascoigne.

Life is a blast now for the former Albion and Premier League midfielder.

Aspinall is happily married and has three jobs - he also scouts for the Seagulls and works for Sainsbury's at their distribution centre in Basingstoke.

You cannot imagine him being in a place so dark that he came within a whisker of taking his own life.

Eight years ago a tearful Aspinall sat on a railway line near his Hampshire home, waiting for a train to take all his troubles away.

He had been through a costly divorce and was gambling and boozing himself into oblivion.

He scrambled away from danger just in time. Prompted by Karen, his girlfriend then and now his wife, he finally sought help.

He spent a fortnight in the Sporting Chance clinic, established by ex-England captain and reformed alcoholic Tony Adams.

Aspinall has a lot to thank them and Karen for. "She's the one that pushed me," he said. "I had just tried to commit suicide and I went and told her. The train just missed me and I broke my hand.

"I broke down and cried. I needed help. She works for British Airways as a hostess and she's excellent.

"She's a strong woman. I said to her I should have met you when I was playing football, I'd be a rich man now.

"She says if you've got a problem tell me, no matter what it is. That's what I learnt in the clinic, the first thing to do was to communicate.

"I was a mickey-taker, a hard man on the pitch, but off the pitch it was only when I'd had a few drinks that I would start communicating.

"Now if I've got a problem I tell people. On the train the other day I ended up speaking to people about addictions and just opened up to them.

"I'm proud to tell people. Before, when I first admitted to it, I didn't want people to know. Now I tell everybody because it's off my chest.

"I tell my wife if I've got a problem now and half of it is shared. She is my rock, my soul mate and my best mate.

"I go drinking with her, yes. We go for lovely meals out but I only drink with her, not on my own. I can't be trusted.

"I don't have any bank cards. My wife takes care of all the money. That way I'm safe. I don't walk around with wads of money in my pocket because again I know I can't be trusted.

"I'm getting that trust back. I don't want 100 per cent trust because then I'll get comfortable."

Aspinall's therapeutic frankness resonates with the visit of Hull. Their midfielder Jake Livermore tested positive for cocaine following the death of his newborn child.

Aspinall's advice to any player suppressing demons would be to open up.

He said: "You get loads more help now compared to what we had. We were frightened to knock on the door and tell the manager you've got problems.

"You think you're a bit weak and I think the managers in those days would have thought you were a bit weak.

"Now the manager's door is always open and that's good. If family life is not running smoothly, if you've got problems at home, addictions, gambling, drinking or what ever, you can go and speak to people and you've got the help there.

"The Football League, the PFA and Sporting Chance have all got together. Not many players now go off the rails but there are still a few.

"I think they are all mollycoddled. They get everything given to them. They don't have to lift a finger. They are advised well and if they can take it on board they are made for life.

"I don't have one iota of bitterness. I had a good career, two record signings for two big clubs in Aston Villa and Portsmouth.

"It's what you do with your money. If you invest it properly then, like I say, you are made for life.

"If you go down a casino every night and spend it then that's where you are going to go wrong."

Aspinall has admitted to blowing at least £1 million on gambling during a career which also included spells with Everton and Wigan.

One gamble that has paid off is spotting for Albion Christian Walton, the England under-21s goalkeeper.

He said: "I went to Plymouth to do a match report. I set off early and took in a youth team game off my own back. He was outstanding, commanding his box.

"I reported straight back to Gus (Poyet). He told Mervyn Day. He went to see him, Mervyn liked him.

"It's very satisfying. If I hadn't reported back I don't think we would have got him. Yes, his name would have come around later but we got in there first."

Aspinall is a survivor in more ways than one. Managers and members of Albion's scouting set-up have come and gone with regularity in recent seasons but he remains part of Chris Hughton's revamped recruitment team, analysing players and opponents.

"The scouting is a big part of my life," he said.

"Paul Winstanley (head of recruitment) has got a good understanding and a good backroom staff with Darren Wrack and Ian Pearce, ex-professionals.

"I think you need that. The analysts are computer whizz-kids but having ex-players on board is good.

"Ewan Chester (chief scout), Chris's man, is excellent. He's dealt with the best, people like Graeme Souness up in Scotland and he was with Chris at Norwich and Birmingham.

"Brighton is a massive family club, starting with the chairman who is excellent, and now I think we've got the right manager in charge. He knows how to get out of this league.

"We're (with Karen) just moving house. Life is absolutely brilliant. It's just like Brighton. They are doing very well at the moment.

"Hopefully we'll keep going together in parallel."