Kurt Nogan should be looking forward to celebrating his 30th birthday against Albion this Saturday.

Instead he is in the doldrums at Cardiff.

The fortunes of the Seagulls' current and previous hotshots could hardly be more contrasting.

Bobby Zamora will be bidding to continue his near goal-a-game record in Wales.

Nogan does not expect to be playing against him. His move to Ninian Park has turned into a nightmare.

Nogan, a potential loan target for Albion before they borrowed Zamora from Bristol Rovers, signed for his home city club from Preston in March.

The fee was £100,000, the same amount as the Seagulls paid to make Zamora's move permanent at the start of the season.

It has all gone horribly wrong for the striker sold by Albion to Burnley for £250,000 five years ago after notching 60 goals in 120 games.

Cardiff were relegated from the Second Division last season, Nogan has hardly played and his future looks even bleaker now that Bobby Gould has taken charge.

"I was put on the transfer list the day before the start of the season," Nogan revealed.

"He (Gould) said I hadn't shown the form I should have and that I was down the pecking order.

"It's turned into a bit of a nightmare really. I've only started about four games and I haven't really been given a chance.

"I've had a few niggling injuries, but they haven't taken that into consideration.

"I signed for two years, but I don't seem to be part of his plans. He plays a different system."

Nogan's only League appearance so far this season was as a late substitute against Rochdale last Saturday.

"I don't hold out much hope of playing against Brighton," he said. "Just being in the team would mean a lot to me at the moment, regardless of the opposition.

"I would think Cardiff will want their money back if they sell me. But if I am not playing I'm not in the shop window, because we have got a really poor reserve team league."

Another Albion old boy, Nogan's former Luton team-mate Mark Walton, is much likelier to play on Saturday.

The Seagulls' No. 1 last season has been an ever present since his sudden departure in the summer under the Bosman ruling.

That angered Albion manager Micky Adams. Walton had verbally agreed to sign a new contract and Adams accused him of "leaving us in the lurch".

Walton, beset by personal problems, felt he was perfectly justified in accepting the surprise offer of a two-year deal.

The capture of Michel Kuipers had also left the 31-year-old uncertain about his place after the ups and downs of last season, when he came under fire from fans and asked for a transfer.

He took a drop in wages to move back home to South Wales, where dad Ronnie is youth team coach with Cardiff's arch-rivals Swansea.

Walton has kept Jon Hallworth on the bench during Cardiff's unbeaten League start.

Nogan said: "He has made the spot his own, but he could be fighting for his place soon as well.

"There is talk of players coming in all the time, including a goalkeeper."

Nobody, it seems, is safe at Cardiff following Sam Hammam's takeover and the appointment of Gould. Three new players were signed last week.

But after David Cameron's goalscoring show for Lincoln, what price Walton coming back to haunt Adams as well with his first clean sheet of the season?