He may have an ordinary name but a quite extraordinary sequence of events has plunged Stuart Jones into the thick of Albion's challenge for a play-off place.

Last week Jones thought his club-hopping career in non-league football was about to continue with Chester or Weymouth.

Now, quite unexpectedly, the 26-year-old from Bristol is preparing for his first League start since May 2002 at Luton.

A knee injury suffered in training by Michel Kuipers gave manager Mark McGhee a dilemma.

McGhee did not want to utilise the eighth and last short-term loan available to him this season by borrowing a goalkeeper to provide cover for Ben Roberts.

Veteran coach and former No. 1 John Keeley was reluctant to be thrust back into the spotlight, so McGhee embarked on a search for an alternative solution.

Steve Claridge, who played under him at Millwall last season, suggested Jones.

Claridge was poised to sign Jones himself for Weymouth after a move for the former Torquay and Sheffield Wednesday keeper from Weston-Super-Mare to Chester fell through.

Instead Albion signed Jones on a non-contract basis, with Kuipers on the sidelines for a fortnight.

Bear with me, it gets better. Roberts, returning to the Causeway Stadium where he had a spell on loan with Wycombe eight seasons ago, was hurt midway through the first half as he cleared from Jermaine McSporran.

Injury-plagued Roberts was forced off at half time for the second time in three games and Jones suddenly found himself called upon to help Albion to their first away point for four matches.

Ten minutes after the final whistle Jones was back out on the pitch with the rest of his new team-mates, the manager, chairman and other Board members to take part in a protest with 1,600 Albion supporters about the Falmer stadium, an issue which until a few days ago he probably knew nothing about.

You couldn't make it up, but Jones was certainly made up. "I just wanted to go out there and do my best for the lads," he said. "Fortunately we got a point. It was a shame we didn't win but they put us under pressure at the end and maybe it was a fair result.

"I thought Ben might be struggling a bit when he went down. I was told to keep warm just in case and I thought something might happen because he wasn't moving freely. My performance was okay. I suppose you could say I didn't do anything wrong and nothing went in. Hopefully I can carry it on."

Jones' previous League appearance was memorable as well, a relegation decider for Torquay against Barnet 21 months ago which replicated the circumstances of Albion's match at Hereford five seasons before. Jones saved a penalty and Torquay stayed up.

Prior to that, in Albion's first season at Withdean, he let in six goals playing for the Devonians.

"That was me," he admitted. "I was frightened to death somebody was going to ask me that question!"

There was never any danger of Jones suffering a repeat on Saturday, although rock-bottom Wycombe looked the likelier winners while he was on the pitch.

Three minutes into Jones' debut Nathan Tyson almost added to his equaliser with a shot which clipped the crossbar. Wycombe captain Michael Simpson did likewise with a free header with 16 minutes left when he should have scored, and Jones also tipped over a Scott Marshall header late on.

The fluency which saw off leaders Plymouth was absent from Albion's performance.

The goal which gave them a 34th-minute advantage was as scruffy as a match stifled by a blustery wind. Wycombe failed to deal with a Paul Watson corner when it was back-headed skywards by Danny Cullip.

Gary Hart helped the ball back into the danger area for Trevor Benjamin, 25 yesterday, to turn and slot his second goal in as many games on loan from Leicester.

Benjamin and a strangely subdued Leon Knight were otherwise below-par.

Hart, returning for the injured John Piercy, was easily the pick of the front three, but it was another borrowed front man who earned Wycombe their third draw in a row.

Tyson, allowed to stay on loan for a second month from Reading by former Albion manager Steve Coppell, sprung the offside trap in first-half stoppage time to stroke his second goal in three matches past Roberts.

McGhee complained: "I need to see it again but I am convinced it was offside.

"I still thought at half time we had put ourselves into a position to win the game but we weren't able to. That was more disappointing.

"I am not really satisfied with a point. It was a battling performance by Wycombe but we can do better. Between now and the end of the season if we take four points every two games, win at home and draw away, then we will undoubtedly be in the play-offs."

Kerry Mayo is banned for the next home fixture against Bournemouth following his fifth booking of the season on the stroke of half time for deliberate handball, but Nathan Jones is available for tomorrow night's trip to his old club Luton after a four-match suspension.

Ah, that name Jones again!

  • ALBION (4-3-3): Roberts (gk) 7; Watson (lm) 6, Mayo (lb) 7, Cullip (cd) 8, Knight (f) 6, Hart (f) 8, Oatway (cm) 7, Carpenter (cm) 7, Butters (cd) 7, Benjamin (f) 6, Virgo (rb) 6. Subs: McPhee for Hart (withdrawn 83), Hammond, El-Abd, S. Jones 7 for Roberts (injured 46), Robinson for Benjamin (withdrawn 83).
  • Scorer: Benjamin (34).
  • Bookings: Mayo, deliberate handball (45); Cullip, foul (90).
  • WYCOMBE (4-5-1): Bevan; Senda, Marshall, Nethercott, Reilly, Simpson, Bulman, McSporran, Currie, Tyson, Brown. Subs: Williams, Bloomfield, Roberts, Philo, Johnson.
  • Scorer: Tyson (45).
  • Bookings: None.
  • Half-Time: Wycombe 1 Albion 1.
  • Attendance: 6,567.
  • Fans' Views: ADAM CURTIS (Sheffield) The first half was mediocre, but I thought the second half was brilliant end-to-end stuff and an attacking game of football. Wycombe had a very good defence, which I saw recently at Hillsborough.

Danny Cullip is a skipper beyond skippers and was almost in tears during the demonstation because he loves the club.

GRAEME EDWARDS (Hove) I thought it was a poor game between two poor sides and our inability to trouble their keeper much was disappointing. It was good to see Jakey (Robinson) get another run-out, but quite a few of us would like to see him play far more than a few minutes. The last two substitutions could have been made a lot earlier.

ROBERT EMERY (Birmingham) It WAS a bit of an anti-climax after the Plymouth game, but the news about Falmer clearly affected the players. We didn't win the midfield battles like we did last week. Butters was quite good and I thought the new goalkeeper, Jones, did very well but it just wasn't Leon or Trevor's afternoon.

JAN MERRITT (Burgess Hill) It wasn't a remarkable game, but the atmosphere was fantastic. I was very sorry to see Ben Roberts get injured, although the the stand-in keeper did very well.

I really throught we could have beaten Wycombe who were quite a poor team, but this was about more than just a football match.