Nicky Forster is back on top of Albion's wish list in the marathon search for a goalscoring striker.

The Seagulls want the experienced Hull marksman to spearhead their League One challenge next season.

They are hoping the lure of a return to the south coast will help them land their man.

Albion had a £100,000 bid for Forster rejected by Hull during the January transfer window.

The 33-year-old still has a year left on his contract at the KC Stadium but he has a home in Sussex and is thought to be keen to move back.

Forster helped Hull to Championship survival with seven goals, including a crucial strike in their penultimate home game against Colchester.

The former England under-21 international has scored 146 League goals in 488 appearances for Gillingham, Brentford, Birmingham, Reading, Ipswich and Hull.

He joined City from Ipswich last August for £250,000 and has attracted fees totalling £1.7 million during a 14-year professional career.

Hull supporters will be sorry to see Forster go. He finished runner-up to Dean Windass in a player of the year website poll run by the Hull Mail newspaper.

Windass, 38, is expected to finalise a permanent move from relegated Bradford in the next few weeks after returning to Hull on loan in January and that could pave the way for Forster's departure.

Meanwhile, Albion could switch attention to versatile Leyton Orient defender Adam Tann if they fail in their bid to sign ex-Coventry right-back Andrew Whing.

Tann, a former team-mate at Cambridge United of Seagulls striker Alex Revell, is stalling over the offer of a new contract from Orient after recovering from testicular cancer to help keep them in League One with a vital goal at Bradford.

Is Nicky Forster the striker to shoot Albion up the table next season?