If Sam Baldock is named in Reading's eleven for the Championship-launching home fixture against Derby County tonight, it will be his first league start for nearly 15 months.

You have to go all the way back to Albion's title-blowing trip to Aston Villa on the final day of their promotion season for his last 90 minutes (89 to be precise).

This fact alone emphasises why Baldock will launch his 14th campaign as a professional at the Madejski Stadium, not eight days later at Vicarage Road.

He is 29 and he needs to play. Stepping back down a level to do so makes sense for him and for Albion.

They could, with additional clauses, end up receiving almost £5 million.

That is far more than they would have got this time next year, when in all probability Baldock would barely have added to the two substitute appearances he made in the Premier League.

A couple of weeks before the Villa game, Baldock (front row, third right) was at the forefront of the celebrations when Albion clinched promotion against Wigan at the Amex.

The Argus: Rightly so. His 34-goal partnership with Glenn Murray did a lot to get them there.

Baldock contributed 11 of those goals, comfortably the most profitable season of his four with the Seagulls after arriving from Bristol City for around £1.5 million.

The landscape was different when Baldock signed. Albion were trying to recover from losing in the play-offs and losing Oscar Garcia as their manager.

In his debut season on the south coast Baldock scored three times in 20 league appearances, some of them out on the left-wing initially when Chris Hughton succeeded Sami Hyypia.

Niggling injuries inhibited him throughout his time at the club. The stats were similar when Albion just missed out in 2015-16, four goals in 28 outings.

Even in his finest hour, Baldock was sidelined. He joined the post-match party against Wigan having missed a chunk of the run-in due to another stint in the treatment room.

Within weeks of that triumph, the writing was on the wall.

Albion's first signing for the Premier League was Pascal Gross (below). Hughton, wary of the damage that could be done in the top flight, adjusted from 4-4-2 to 4-4-1-1, leaving room for only one out-and-out central striker.

The Argus: The nimble Baldock's attributes are ideal for operating in a pair, exploiting his mobility and work ethic. He is not cut out to lead the line in the Premier League in isolation.

The alliance with Murray worked well in the second tier but Baldock inevitably slipped behind his partner, and Tomer Hemed, once Gross made a rapid mark in the No.10 role.

Especially as a troublesome calf issue, which surgery did not cure, ruled him out again for the first couple of months.

Baldock was unfortunate not to get a few more opportunities in November and December, when Albion struggled for results.

Once Jurgen Locadia and Leo Ulloa were signed in January, his chances of playing deteriorated. A few minutes in the defeats at West Brom and at home to Leicester in March left him frustrated but still believing he had a future at the club.

Speaking in April in an exclusive interview with the Argus, Baldock said: "Yes, because the way I see it I've not failed. I've not been given a chance to fail. I just want that opportunity really and then put it down on me.

"If that doesn't work out over a handful of games then I'll be the first to hold my hands up and say perhaps drop down a level, but I want to keep grafting away and wait for that opportunity."

That opportunity was never going to come, not when the long quest to land Florin Andone (below) - a striker similar in style but with more physical presence and pedigree - finally reached a successful conclusion.

The Argus: Twenty goals in 94 games in all competitions across four seasons is evidence of those injuries, the ever-increasing competition for places and the unselfish streak which made Baldock a popular member of the squad.

That was clear from the tweets from team-mates when his departure was announced and the words of Hughton. He said: "Sam has been a pleasure to work with during my time here and he played a key role in our journey to the Premier League.

"His attitude and professionalism has been excellent, especially after not having as much game time as he would have liked last season."

Now Baldock has three years at a club in a similar situation to Albion not so long ago. Reading nearly went up two seasons ago and nearly went down last season.

"I've got that burning desire to prove myself at the very top," he said.

Whether he will ever get the chance to claim a distinction of starting matches in all four divisions in England remains to be seen.