Albion have revealed the injury keeping club legend Bobby Zamora out of their promotion push.

The veteran striker has a hip problem, which the Seagulls knew about when they re-signed him last summer.

Zamora, 35, has not started a match since February and has played for just 22 minutes in the last nine games.

Albion have been reluctant, until now, to explain the precise reason for his absence.

Boss Chris Hughton revealed to the Argus: “It’s his hip. It certainly comes and goes. When we chose to take him in the summer he’d had it for part of last season (with QPR) but was available for a lot of games.

“When we look over the season so far, Bobby has actually been available for a very high percentage of games. It’s just been a decision at times not to play him, have him on the bench, to use him sparingly.

“The early form of Sam (Baldock) and Tomer (Hemed) helped. It’s not something we didn’t know and it’s just about managing it.

“We have managed it, I think, very well over the season. He’s had two or three flare-ups from that, which we expected.”

Zamora has contributed seven goals in ten starts and 16 sub appearances after 31 Premier League appearances for QPR last season.

Sam Baldock is back from a recurrence of hamstring trouble for Fulham’s visit tomorrow night but Zamora will be missing again against his old club and it is unclear whether he will play any further part in the Seagulls’ bid for automatic promotion from the Championship.

Hughton said: “We’ve had a good few players we knew were going to be out for a longer period, like Gaetan (Bong), Uwe (Huenemeier), Kazenga (LuaLua), (Liam) Rosenior. I certainly don’t see him in that way.

“You concentrate on what you’ve got at this minute. We are fortunate that we’ve got Sam back. We’ve also brought Elvis (Manu) back, who has not been part of things but at this moment in Tomer (Hemed), Sam Baldock and James Wilson we’ve got three very good strikers.”

Baldock’s return gives Hughton the option of resurrecting his successful partnership with Hemed.

They have shared 11 goals in 19 games playing together, of which Albion have won 11, drawn eight and lost none.

http://m.theargus.co.uk/sport/14389379.Bobby_Zamora_justifies_his_return_to_Albion/