Gary Hart believes Albion can leave Middlesbrough's Premiership millionaires with the bitter taste of defeat in the Carling Cup tonight.

The Seagulls are quoted on their own website as 6-1 no-hopers to win the second round clash in normal time at a near-deserted Riverside Stadium.

Hart and his colleagues refuse to be overawed by the odds stacked against them after Boro finally got their season into gear with Sunday's 1-0 home win against Everton.

"It's a nice draw for us, to go and play at a big stadium," said the right winger. "Obviously we are not used to that at Withdean.

"They won on Sunday and we could have done without that but we are going to go up there and give it our best shot. It will be a privilege to play against people like Juninho. You know what they are all about but once you are on the pitch you treat them all the same.

"You have to treat them with respect, otherwise they can make you look a mug, but we can do it. You can beat anyone on your day."

Boro are only opening the east side of the ground. Even with admission prices reduced to £10, the crowd is not likely to be much bigger than it was for Leon Knight's previous trip to the Teesiders.

Albion's seven-goal marksman said: "It's going to be a good challenge. Middlesbrough is my favourite ground.

"I played there for Sheffield Wednesday in the reserves and it's really nice.

"No-one is expecting us to win or even get a draw really against a Premier League side but there have been shocks in this cup before and hopefully we can pull another one off."

Albion were thrashed 5-0 when they visited Boro in the League Cup a decade ago. Boss Steve Coppell does not want a repeat, as he fears that would erode confidence for the League campaign.

Coppell said: "We are going there to enjoy it. It's a different theatre, against world class players, and that is what my players play for, to test themselves against the very best.

"We've got nothing to lose other than our pride and self respect and we certainly don't want to lose that."