Tommy Elphick hopes to be providing Premier League tickets for mum and dad on a regular basis in the future.

But the Albion centre-back has been lagging behind his defensive sidekick and fellow local boy Adam Virgo in the run-up to the Aston Villa tie.

At the age of 22, Elphick sees the trip to Villa Park as a great chance to gain a bit of experience on the way to what he hopes will be a top-flight career.

He has yet to play at a current Premier League ground, though he made his debut at Reading when they were on their way up and has helped the Seagulls pick up League One points at fallen giants Nottingham Forest, Leeds and Southampton.

Of his 126 appearances, only four have come before crowds of more than 20,000, the biggest of them the 24,670 who saw him score an own goal as the Seagulls were routed at Norwich this season.

So no wonder he is relishing the chance to shine on Saturday.

“There will be a lot of nerves flying around,” he admitted.

“Not many of us have played in front of big crowds like that.

“We will be looking to the older ones to guide us through early on.

“But really it’s like a normal game. It’s about getting through the first ten minutes, feel your way into the game and see what happens.”

Having been rested for the third-round win at Torquay and then seen the Brentford game called off, Elphick was glad to see the Walsall fixture get the go ahead.

You do not want to be facing Premier League strikers after almost four weeks without a game.

He knows what Albion will be up against, however, thanks to Villa’s frequent appearances on television lately.

He is happy to study as many televised games as he can and said: “I believe you can always learn from watching.

“Obviously Aston Villa have got a great centre-half in Richard Dunne and I’m familiar with their team.

“We don’t know which way they will go up front because they have different options.

“But it’s going to be a bit tough!

“This is the standard I want to be playing week in week out at some stage of my career.

“It would be good to pitch myself against them and see how far off I am.”

Albion striker Nicky Forster reckons those trips to the likes of Leeds and Southampton can help Albion’s less experienced players cope with Villa Park.

Forster said: “We’ve all played on nice pitches.

“We went to Southampton earlier on in the season in our league and you can’t get a lot better than that.”

Still, Villa is a step up again and everyone wants to be there. Elphick added: I’ll have the regulars like mum and dad there.

“My brother will be playing but I’ll have some friends there as well.

“There’s a big order for tickets coming.

“I’m only on 12 at the moment but Virgs is on 39!”