John Piercy is playing catch up after an injury-plagued start to his Albion career.

The former Spurs midfielder made a belated home debut as a late substitute for Graham Barrett in Tuesday's 1-1 draw against Ipswich.

It was the first time he has featured in the squad since the second of his two starts for the Seagulls in the Worthington Cup exit at Ipswich 11 weeks earlier.

Piercy spent most of that period recovering from a couple of injuries, one caused by his boots the other by a colleague.

"At Ipswich I went off with a pain down my shin and we put it down to my boots," he revealed.

"I had been wearing the same pair for three years and I changed to another brand which didn't suit me. I was getting a muscle strain."

Worse followed for the ex-England youth international in a collision with Richard Carpenter in training.

"We went in for a tackle and he got injured at the same time but he was only out for a couple of days and I was four or five weeks.

"I had bone bruising on my ankle and it has been persistently painful.

"It has gone in the last three weeks and I have managed to string a few reserve games together.

"That is the reason I am back in. If I could have stayed fit then maybe I could have got on a bit of a roll before, but the team have been doing well so I didn't expect to get straight back.

"Even now I have still got a lot of work to do. There were a couple of injuries the other night, so that doesn't mean I am back in all the time."

The next step for 23-year-old Piercy, signed by ex-manager Martin Hinshelwood, is to play a full 90 minutes for Albion.

He was substituted on his debut in the 1-0 defeat at Rotherham three days prior to the Worthington Cup tie at Ipswich.

"It hasn't been an ideal start for me, but there is no point getting down," he said.

"The new manager is excellent, so I've got no worries there."

Junior Lewis, like Piercy, has found himself on the fringes since going back to Leicester from his successful loan spell with Albion at the end of last season.

He has made seven League and Cup appearances, including a scoring contribution against his old club Gillingham, but Lewis is unlikely to figure when Micky Adams returns to Withdean with the Foxes on Friday.