The moment has finally arrived for Connor Goldson.

Unless Albion manager Chris Hughton springs a surprise, Goldson will make his Premier League debut against Watford at the Amex on Saturday.

Shane Duffy is suspended from the centre of defence following the Irishman's fifth yellow card of the season against Burnley.

That leaves Hughton with a choice between Goldson and experienced German Uwe Huenemeier to fill the void alongside Lewis Dunk.

Several factors point towards a late birthday gift for Goldson, who was 25 on Monday.

Goldson, rather than Huenemeier (below), has been on the bench for nine of the last ten matches.

The Argus: He is a right-sided central defender, like Duffy, and was deliberately given a run-out in the under-23's recently to cater for the rising risk of one, or both, of Hughton's first-choice pairing incurring a ban.

Add to the mix that Goldson will be handling a familar face in Watford striker Andre Gray and it looks as if a long wait is over for the stopper about whom Albion legend Bobby Zamora said in a tweet "Has everything to be a top top player. Better than Chris Smalling at Fulham When he first joined."

Goldson and Gray were youth team-mates and close friends at Shrewsbury, where they were awarded their first professional contracts.

Gray has risen to the top via Hinckley United, Luton, Brentford and Burnley.

He made his 50th Premier League appearance from the bench in Watford's 4-2 defeat by Huddersfield at Vicarage Road last weekend, after skipper and fellow striker Troy Deeney saw red in the first half.

The Argus: A combination of unfortunate circumstances have contributed to Gray (above left) reaching his half-century before Goldson has broken his duck.

Goldson had established an effective partnership with Dunk when he encountered promotion-bound Burnley and Gray at the Amex two seasons ago.

The following summer, a knee ligament injury sustained at the start of Albion's pre-season training camp in Tenerife, together with the signing a few weeks later of Duffy from Blackburn Rovers, was a double setback to Goldson's hopes of maintaining his alliance with Dunk.

He had been restricted to five appearances for the Seagulls in their progress towards the Premier League when his world caved in.

Routine screening by the club identified a serious heart condition which threatened not just his career but also his life without corrective surgery.

Goldson had an operation in March on a swollen aorta - the main blood vessel running from the heart through the chest and stomach.

By July, with a long scar down the centre of his chest, he was back playing again in Albion's pre-season training camp in the Austrian mountains.

With the prospect of Premier League action undermined by the Dunk-Duffy axis, and Huenemeier, Goldson was poised for valuable game time back in the Championship on loan to Ipswich at the end of the summer transfer window.

He had been the No.1 target for Ipswich manager Mick McCarthy, Hughton's former Republic of Ireland colleague. A season-long loan had been agreed and, as the deadline loomed, Goldson travelled to Ipswich for his medical.

There was nothing wrong with his health, just his luck. The loan deal set up by Albion for Goldson's replacement, Stefano Denswil, collapsed when the Dutchman was called back by his club, Brugge, because of an injury ruling out another of their defenders for longer than anticipated.

Goldson's only senior appearance since then came in the Carabao Cup exit at Bournemouth in September (below). Fortune has finally favoured the brave.

The Argus: He told The Argus in July: "I am used to playing and I am only happy when I am playing.

"The first season here was good. I managed to play 28-30 games. Last season was not so good, for problems of my own and how well the team were doing.

"I got an injury in pre-season. Obviously that didn't help me and then the heart thing didn't help me.

"This season I have to play football. Hopefully it's here. I want to stay here, I want to play here, but if it's here I need to play games.

"I can't have two seasons on the bounce not playing, because not only does it affect my career as a footballer, it affects me mentally.

"I'm not a happy person when I'm not playing football, that's all I want to do."