Anthony Knockaert has fond memories of facing Wolves.

His double at Molineux the last time the teams met put Albion on the verge of promotion to the Premier League.

Whether Knockaert gets a chance to punish them again at the Amex on Saturday depends on how Chris Hughton decides to deploy his selection of wingers.

The competition cost Knockaert his place in the 1-0 victory at Newcastle.

Jose Izquierdo (below centre), injured at the World Cup with Colombia, was handed his first start of the season on the left.

The Argus: Hughton retained record signing Alireza Jahanbakhsh, moving him to the right for his full away debut after the Iranian made his first Premier League start against West Ham on the left.

That left no room for Knockaert, other than as an unused substitute.

The Frenchman had started every league game this season. In fact, he had started every match since returning on the bench at Crystal Palace in mid-April from a suspension for a reckless tackle and red card at Everton the previous month.

Knockaert still has two-thirds of the competition he encountered last season in Izquierdo and Solly March.

The other winger, Jiri Skalak, was not used by Hughton and is now at Millwall.

The signing of Jahanbakhsh has improved the overall quality in the wide positions. Four players will be fighting for two spots once March's temporary role as No.10 ends with the return to fitness of Pascal Gross. Tony Bloom remarked at the start of the season that Albion have their strongest ever squad.

The Seagulls' second campaign in the Premier League is still in its infancy, but it is difficult to dispute the owner-chairman's claim.

The work done over the summer to increase the depth of the group is already paying dividends.

Albion beat West Ham at the Amex without Gross and Dale Stephens, then won at Newcastle without Gross, Knockaert and for the most part Glenn Murray.

Results like that last season would have been harder to achieve without influential mainstays of the push to safety.

The Argus: Martin Montoya (above), a quality addition at right-back, was absent from Hughton's line-up against the Hammers and at Newcastle by choice to facilitate the return of Bruno.

A combination of luck and the diligent expertise of the medical staff restricted injuries to a minimum last season. Albion are already suffering much more in this respect than last year.

Bruno, Gross, Stephens, Lewis Dunk, Davy Propper, and probably now Murray as well after his head injury at Newcastle, have all missed matches.

Albion's squad will be stretched this season like never before by international commitments and the accompanying increased risk to club availability.

In January they will lose Jahanbakhsh and Australian goalkeeper Mathew Ryan to the Asian Cup.

Suspensions for bookings could begin to bite too in the next couple of months. Stephens and Beram Kayal have collected three yellow cards, Duffy, Knockaert, Murray, Jahanbakhsh and Shane Duffy two apiece.

Everyone in the squad will be needed at some stage. Brazilian summer signing Bernardo, for example, made his first Premier League appearance at Newcastle from the bench in place of Bruno since the opening day defeat at Watford.

Another of the summer signings, Romanian striker Florin Andone, has yet to be seen in the first team due to a combination of injury and the greater depth of the squad.

When familiar names are missing from the starting line-up nowadays it could be by design. As Knockaert discovered at Newcastle.