Christmas is coming. Time for Craig Noone to dig out his Santa onesie.

The Scouse livewire once wore the festive red and white number to go to training, to the delight of his Albion team-mates.

That was just one of the lighter-hearted moments for which his former colleagues still remember him.

But the Cardiff City winger will be hoping to make a trip to South Wales far from a bundle of laughs for his old club as he targets a recall to Neil Warnock’s starting line-up.

Noone is competing with Anthony Pilkington for a role opposite main man Peter Whittingham in the Bluebirds side to face the Seagulls tomorrow.

He was left out of the last two starting XIs but had previously been a main player for Warnock, with the new boss praising his appetite for defensive work as well as his attacking flair.

Noone was hugely popular among the Albion set-up as part of the squad which won League One in 2010-11 and then settled both at the Amex and in the Championship.

The Argus:

Craig Noone and Gary Dicker (centre) celebrate an Albion goal with Craig Mackail-Smith

He has gone on to be a fans’ favourite in South Wales.

Former team-mate Gary Dicker remembers the on-field magic – and the lighter side behind the scenes.

Dicker told The Argus: “He was one of those players the ball just stuck to. He would dribble with the ball at the old training round in Falmer and he’d get kicked.

“I remember one time he took a kicking off somebody and Gus (Poyet) or Charlie (Oatway), whoever was refereeing the game at the time, just said ‘Play on!’.

“Nooney picked the ball up and booted it away. He was sent in from training for that. There was only about five minutes left anyway and they sent him in. As soon as we got in, we were all laughing and joking again.

“He got a bit of stick but that was how it was back then. We knew when to joke and when to be serious.

“His influence in the dressing room was brilliant. I remember one Christmas he came in dressed as Santa. He’d always be up for something.”

Those who follow Cardiff regularly believe he might just have produced his best football for them in the Premier League.

The Argus:

Noone celebrates during his super display for Cardiff against Manchester City

A 3-2 home win over Manchester City sticks out in the memory.

Dicker said: “I don’t know if I go along with that because he has been brilliant in the Championship as well.

“He has got a great change of direction.

“Injuries have hindered him a bit but, on his day, he is as good as anything in the Championship.”

Many Albion fans will not need telling about his skills. He first caught their eye playing against them, for a poor Plymouth side early in the 2010-11 season.

Poyet brought him in midway through the campaign and he was a regular in the first season at the Amex.

Dicker said: “In his last six months at the club he was brilliant for us.

“He’s probably what people describe these days as a ‘street footballer’.

“I’ve seen him playing behind the frontman this season under Paul Trollope but, for me, he’s an out-and-out winger.”

That wide role is how Warnock has used him since replacing Trollope earlier this season.

Warnock put Noone back in the team and was rewarded by his part in a match-winning penalty against Bristol City.

If he plays today, it could well be on the right flank.

That was a role first given to him at Cardiff by Malky Mackay and worked very well at first until his habit of cutting inside on to his left foot started to become a bit predictable.

Fellow winger Junior Hoilett has been used more centrally of late with Warnock keen to get some pace close to target man Rickie Lambert.

Of course nothing is guaranteed. Noone, who has been with Cardiff for more than four years now, could be beaten to the starting role by Pilkington.

As it turns out, he is another one of Dicker’s former colleagues, going back to League Two promotion days at Stockport.

Dicker, now of Kilmarnock, said: “Pilks is probably the most naturally gifted player I’ve seen in terms of being two-footed.

“I can remember him taking corners right-footed from one side and left-footed from the other. It was the first time I’d ever seen that.

“He is more powerful than Nooney. He probably didn’t get enough recognition for what he did in the Premier League with Norwich.”