Albion boss Peter Taylor has returned to his old club Leicester to plug a goalkeeping gap for today's noon showdown at Queens Park Rangers.

Simon Royce makes his debut at Loftus Road on a month's loan from the Premiership strugglers in place of the injured Michel Kuipers.

Dutchman Kuipers pulled a thigh muscle near the end of last Friday's 2-2 home draw against Chesterfield and he is expected to be out for at least a fortnight.

Taylor did not want to risk the inexperienced Will Packham, so he has drafted in the 30-year-old Royce.

He has made the odd appearance for Leicester this season but has mainly been on the bench as cover for Ian Walker.

Royce was previously at Charlton and Southend, where he also played under Taylor.

"He is very experienced and it is a very important time for us," Taylor said. "I have only seen Will in training and in a game at Bognor. Michel has been terrific. You never want to lose somebody who has been playing well, but I know Simon is a tremendous goalkeeper."

Kuipers' injury breaks a run of 46 successive appearances dating back to February. Taylor has also ruled Kerry Mayo (knee) and Gary Hart (dead leg) out of the Seagulls' crucial Christmas programme.

A repeat of Albion's 2-1 home win over Rangers in September would emulate the club record of nine away matches without defeat in the Football League, posted in 1937-38.

Bobby Zamora was on target when the teams met at Withdean. He has netted in each of the Seagulls' last six away fixtures in Division Two, stretching back to the trip to Cardiff at the end of September, and in his last ten appearances overall.

Rangers boss Ian Holloway was at the helm at Bristol Rovers when Zamora was sold to Albion for £100,000. "Bobby has done fantastically well," Holloway said.

"There is a 30 per cent sell-on, so the better he does the better Bristol Rovers do, and I wish him nothing but the best. He is a wonderful kid with a great attitude who deserves everything he gets."

Zamora faces a fascinating shoot-out against Andy Thomson, the top scorer in the Second Division with 17 goals. Zamora has already found the net 19 times, but two of those were in the Worthington Cup and two more in the FA Cup.