Albion legend Peter Ward is backing Bobby Zamora to beat his club goalscoring record.

Ward fired Alan Mullery's Seagulls to promotion in 1976-77 with 36 goals in all competitions.

Zamora has bagged 20 so far this season. He has 16 matches left to set a new standard, starting with Saturday's home game against relegation-threatened York.

Ward, now based in Florida, hopes he does it. "I think he should do it the way he is going.

"When I broke the record I didn't even know there was one!

"I want him to keep scoring, because that means Brighton are going well.

"Records are always there to be broken and it wouldn't bother me if mine went. It won't change how the Brighton people feel about me."

Ward has been keeping in touch with Zamora's exploits via the internet and satellite TV.

"I go on line to look at Brighton and we get an hour on Sky Sports every day plus the goals on Saturdays," he said.

"Zamora is doing well. Whether Brighton can hold onto him is another matter, but it would be nice if they could."

Albion have just turned down a £1.5 million bid for Zamora from Wigan following Cardiff's £1.2 million offer before Christmas.

Barely a day goes by without the young hotshot being linked to a move.

The latest is Ipswich and a report claiming they want Zamora to be reunited with former team-mate Marcus Stewart.

Its validity is somewhat diminished, since Zamora and Stewart never played together at Bristol Rovers.

Ward played 56 games in beating Arthur Attwood's 35-goal haul in 1932-33.

Zamora will play a maximum of 50 matches, assuming Albion hang onto him and are not involved in the play-offs, so he has his work cut out to overhaul Ward.

His chances have been helped by replacing Paul Watson as penalty taker.

Garry Nelson, the last Albion player to reach 30 goals in a season in 1987-88, said: "I got one penalty and missed one. Alan Curbishley took them for us.

"There is a bit of luck involved as well. You need to keep clear of injuries.

"When you are scoring like Bobby is, though, the game is easy. You just go out there full of confidence and belief.

"You don't even have to look up to know where the goal is. The ball also seems to bounce to you in areas where it doesn't during bad times.

"As the goals build up it almost works as a negative. People talk about records and then you start thinking about it.

"I had a spell that cost me dearly, when I didn't score for eight games, but he seems very laid back as if nothing fazes him."

Nelson, now the PFA's commercial executive, saw Zamora score the first of his 26 goals in total for Albion against Plymouth at Withdean last season before his loan move from Bristol Rovers became permanent in August for a bargain £100,000.

"He looked quite silky then and he has built up a growing reputation," Nelson said.

"Sometimes when players are on loan and it goes quite well they go back to their club and get a bit stale.

"Getting a permanent chance with Brighton will have done a lot for his confidence.

"The feedback we are getting is that he is a very talented lad. He is not your archetypal big forward in the lower divisions who gets all of his goals at the far post.

"He has a lot more ability than that. He has got a silky running style with the ball at his feet and he just needs to keep developing and improving."

Whether Zamora can improve on Nelson's 32 goals in 52 games to put himself third on the all-time list remains to be seen.

He is on course for one of the most prolific seasons in Albion's history, but he is not particularly bothered.

"I don't know too much about it," he said. "Someone mentioned it to me a couple of months ago.

"As long as we get the three points I don't mind who scores. Any goal from now on is a bonus as long as we get promotion."

Ward and Nelson's golden seasons enabled Albion to finish runners-up in the Third Division.

Boss Micky Adams will be delighted if Zamora completes a historical hat-trick.