Albion's draw at promotion rivals Burnley in November could end up having special significance for one of the 13 players that returned from Lancashire with a hard-earned point.

It may well turn out to be Jake Forster-Caskey's final appearance for the club.

A parting of the ways looks likely in the summer following the England under-21 midfielder's return to Championship rivals MK Dons on loan for the rest of the season.

It seems incongruous, a young international struggling for game time in a second tier team but England players nowadays, even at senior level, are not guaranteed starters for their clubs. Gary Cahill and Jonjo Shelvey are current examples.

In Forster-Caskey's case, he has become a victim of changing managers, tactical preferences and circumstances at the Amex.

His best season for Albion was under Oscar Garcia, when the Seagulls were in turmoil after Gus Poyet's departure and the Spaniard, short of players, turned to youth.

Forster-Caskey made 34 appearances as Albion reached the play-offs. Rohan Ince was a regular as well but Oscar never played 4-4-2. Ince sat deep in a three-man midfield with Forster-Caskey one of the pair ahead of him.

Sami Hyypia was not a 4-4-2 man either. Forster-Caskey played 33 games last season but 24 of them were under the Finn between August and December. He featured only nine times under Chris Hughton from January until May.

The situation has deteriorated further for Forster-Caskey since Hughton committed primarily to 4-4-2 as the best way forward for Albion in the Championship this season, with Beram Kayal and Dale Stephens central figures.

His run-out at Burnley as a second half substitute accounts for 25 of his 29 minutes of League action.

Forster-Caskey, although not 22 until in April, is not a kid any more. He became Albion's youngest ever player when Poyet awarded him his debut at the age of 16 He has now played over 100 games for the Seagulls, MK Dons and Oxford, where he also spent time on loan to aid his teenage development.

He's had no case for re-inclusion, with Albion performing so well in the first half of the campaign, but his career is not even standing still, it's going backwards.

Although Forster-Caskey has remained a part of Gareth Southgate's England under-21 squad, his international game time has declined hand-in-hand with this club fortunes.

Something had to give. A longer-term return to MK Dons, where he played regularly on loan for a month earlier this season and where manager Karl Robinson is a big admirer of his neat and tidy style, makes sense for all parties.

Forster-Caskey, to his credit, is not content just to sit on his pay packet. He wants to play. Albion will have the right of recall after 28 days in case of emergencies.

The move has the feel of a forerunner for a permanent parting of the ways in the summer, to MK Dons or somewhere else, when Forster-Caskey will be entering the final year of his contract.

His value will already be decreasing in the eyes of potential suitors due to his inactivity. Albion will not want his contract to run down without some return for the long-term investment made in his development.

The best thing that can happen is Forster-Caskey playing regularly at MK Dons and playing well.

That way his stock - and his value - rises again and, from his own point of view, he is firmly in Southgate's thoughts when the Young Lions' Euro qualifying campaign resumes in March.

Forster-Caskey will be reluctant to leave the club that has nurtured him and now boasts Premier League-class facilities.

Unless circumstances change - which seems unlikely at the moment - he will have to in order to further his career.

He is not the only one. There appears to be no future at Hughton's Albion for Danny Holla, substituted in a rare outing at Hull on Saturday.

There will be no shift in central midfield as long as Kayal and Stephens stay fit and available but the alternatives are set to change next season, irrespective of which division Albion are operating in.