Albion boss Steve Coppell is contemplating a tactical change for tomorrow's FA Cup clash at Norwich.

A combination of the competition's sudden death element and wholesale alterations by the Canaries could mean Coppell switching to his favoured 4-4-2 formation.

That would bring into contention the likes of Paul Brooker and Gary Hart for a return to the starting line-up in the third round tie at Carrow Road.

Coppell has operated with three central defenders since the League draw at Wolves in early November.

Norwich switched to a 3-4-3 system at Grimsby following the Seagulls' surprise 1-0 win in Norfolk in the First Division on Boxing Day and that may force Coppell's hand.

He said: " They did make a lot of changes after we played them and they did play a different formation.

"I am perhaps a little bit more tempted to be a bit more carefree about it. I might be forced into 4-4-2 anyway, because if they play 3-4-3 with three forwards I can't play with three defenders.

"Whenever we have played against a front three, like against Derby and Leicester, we have played with a back four so chances are I might go with a back four.

"We are not strong enough to dictate the style, we will react to their shape. The good thing is he personnel here are flexible. We can adjust halfway through a half and it's not a big issue. I like my teams to have that quality."

Paul Watson, 28 tomorrow, is hoping for the birthday present of a rare place in Monday's fourth round draw.

The Hastings-born fullback said: "It would be nice to get into the hat for the next round. I think the furthest I've got is the third round with Gillingham, so I've never really done that well in it.

"We will take the confidence from the last game there into Saturday. It takes a bit of pressure off, but I think the lads would all rather get down to the nitty gritty of the League campaign and try and get ourselves out of that as quickly as possible."

Albion's preparations have been hampered by the rain. It washed out the New Year's Day fixture against Wimbledon at Withdean and has made the training ground at the University of Sussex, Falmer, practically unplayable.

Coppell added: "We hardly did anything on Monday because it was a quagmire.

"The day before a game we do next to nothing, then we had Wednesday off and yesterday we couldn't do anything constructive. It's been a really disruptive week from that point of view."

The pitch at Carrow Road drains well and early reports from Norwich indicate the tie is not in jeopardy.

Full match preview at thisisthealbion.co.uk