Gary Hart hopes to use his first goal for seven months as the springboard for a return to regular first team action under new boss Peter Taylor.

Albion's striker turned right winger struck what proved to be the winner at Huddersfield last Saturday.

It finished a famine for Hart stretching back to March 31, when he was on target in a 2-0 home win against Mansfield.

The last of his eight goals last season left him joint second in the scoring charts with Paul Watson, adrift, of course, of Bobby Zamora.

Hart, in and out of the team so far this term, admitted: "I didn't think it was that far back, but I knew it was my first of the season and that was all I was thinking about.

"I haven't been getting on the scoresheet, but I am playing a new role now. I have been waiting to get forward and get a few goals, but not scoring hasn't affected me."

Hart, now in his fourth season with the Seagulls, had been an almost certain starter until the current campaign.

He missed only three League matches in his first year, two in the second and one in last season's title triumph.

The former Stansted high-flier found himself on the bench six times in 14 matches under Micky Adams this term before Bob Booker brought him back into the starting line-up at Huddersfield.

"Being in the team gave me a lift," Hart said. "I just wanted to go out and prove I should be in it every week."

Hart and Kerry Mayo are the only ones who survived Adams' cull of the squad after he took charge in April 1999. He awarded Hart a new three-and-a-half-year contract months into his reign.

"From a personal point of view I got on with Micky," Hart said. "I was gutted when I heard the news, but it was going to happen. He is one of the most successful managers around at the moment and I can imagine him and Dave Bassett turning things around at Leicester.

"It felt good that me and Kerry were the only ones who survived with him and the situation this season made no difference.

"He had been playing formations to take account of the opposition. He explained it to us and I was happy with that.

"It is a team game at the end of the day, not just about the 11 on the pitch. There are about 20 of us in the squad and you are not going to get through the season without that.

"I have been mostly on as a sub in the second half. That's hard, but I think I have done quite well. I got the 90 minutes I wanted at Huddersfield and I scored, so I was very happy."

Hart, 25 last month, is bracing himself for another fresh challenge under Taylor, having also played at Albion for Brian Horton and Jeff Wood.

"You have just got to prove that you should be in the team," he said. "It will be the fourth manager I have played under here, which isn't bad going. Hopefully he might stay at least two years!"