Steve Melton wants to make the ice men of Stoke pay for cold shouldering him at the Britannia Stadium tonight.

The Albion midfielder is desperate to play against his old club in the promotion showdown, screened live on ITV digital.

Melton was the victim of a boardroom battle involving the Icelandic group now in charge at Stoke when he joined them from Nottingham Forest two seasons ago.

He has started the last four matches and scored on his first full appearance under Peter Taylor against leaders Reading but was substituted at half time at Bournemouth on Tuesday after a booking.

"I am very keen to play," Melton admitted. "Stoke away was the first game I looked for when the fixture list came out. They were going through a bit of turmoil at Board level when I was there and didn't know what division they would be in.

"They left it late, losing in the play-off semi-finals and then they wanted to leave a decision on me until the following pre-season, but I had already decided to join Micky Adams at Brighton."

Albion have a cushion over Stoke of two places and five points with a game in hand and Melton knows victory tonight would virtually rule them out of the automatic promotion fight.

"I don't think a draw would be a bad result for us, but we would prefer to win to open up a little gap," he said. "It's a nice stadium to play in and there will probably be about 16,000 there so I am looking forward to it."

Gary Hart resumed light training yesterday after an ankle injury ruled him out of the 1-1 draw at Bournemouth.

Junior Lewis continues to nurse a persistent groin problem and was restricted to light jogging, but Daniel Webb is available again after a two-match ban to boost a strike force still missing the suspended Bobby Zamora.

Taylor said: "I know John Rudge (Stoke director of football) very well and he told me when I first came here that he thought Brighton were the best team they had played. I know our players and staff feel Stoke are the best side Brighton have played this season, so it is going to be very interesting. The stadium itself is first class and there will be a tremendous atmosphere, so it's one that we are up for.

"I said I would settle for four points from the three games without Bobby and if we get five I would be delighted with that, but Stoke need a win more than us. If we get a draw it wouldn't be terrible."

Another big promotion clash takes place tomorrow when Bristol City in third entertain fifth-placed Brentford. Reading are at rock-bottom Cambridge United.

For a preview of tonight's big game visit thisisthealbion.co.uk