The future of Albion defender Andrew Whing is in doubt after his Villa killer.

Boss Gus Poyet has spoken to Whing, who was left out of the squad on Saturday for the Seagulls' FA Cup tie against Aston Villa.

Whing’s absence from the fourth round clash at Villa Park, where he is a season ticket holder, suggests he is now third choice right-back behind Inigo Calderon and Gavin Hoyte.

The former Coventry player did not travel with the squad which won at Walsall in the league a week earlier.

He made the journey back to the West Midlands for the showdown with his beloved Villa.

But a vacancy on the bench, created by Marcos Painter's unavailability, was filled by on-loan Arsenal teenager Hoyte, leaving Whing a disgruntled spectator as Albion lost 3-2 in the fourth round.

Boss Gus Poyet revealed: “I have talked to him but that is something I would like to keep between us. We will sort it out the best way we can for the player.

“That is something we need to work on, what is best for him.

“He is under contract. I always respect the player first. It doesn’t matter if they are playing or they are not.”

Whing, named player of the season in May following Albion’s successful fight against relegation, has fallen further out of favour with the arrival of Calderon. The Spaniard impressed on his debut at Walsall and again at Villa.

Poyet, unsurprised by Calderon’s smooth transition to English football, said: “He understands the game and he plays in a style that I really like. I am looking forward to working with him for many years.

“I know what he is going to give me and he has showed that in the last two games. I had no hesitation about him, because of the way he plays and where he has come from.

“The people in the north of Spain are totally different from in the south. They play a different type of game and I had no doubt he is the type of player who will adapt to the situation very well."

Calderon is poised for his third appearance in 11 days in tonight’s key visit to bottom club Stockport.

He said: “I am not used to playing Saturday and Tuesday much but I prefer that.

“We have to forget about Saturday, that is in the past now. It’s a really important game tonight. We need the three points and they are bottom, so they need to win as well.”

Albion will field a mixture of fringe players and youngsters at Crawley tomorrow night in the third round of the Sussex Senior Cup (7pm).

Admission to the Broadfield Stadium is free and the tie will be played to a finish, with extra-time and penalties if necessary.

The Sussex FA have agreed to forego the possible need for a replay, owing to their weather-related backlog of fixtures.