Matt Richards returns to his roots

Walsall midfielder Matt Richards returns to the scene of his footballing roots at Brighton.

The Withdean Stadium - an athletics ground camouflaged in League One of the Football League - is not the traditional field of dreams.

But for the Saddlers man it represents his rebirth.

His career has been inextricably linked to the Seagulls since they handed him a lifeline when his time at Ipswich took a nasty turn back in 2007.

Richards fell out of favour with boss Jim Magilton and was farmed out on loan to the south coast three times.

By the time Roy Keane replaced Magilton in 2009, the writing was on the wall and, despite starting in Keane's first game - a 3-0 win at Cardiff - he joined the Saddlers on a free transfer later that summer.

A Walsall debut at Brighton in last season's opening-day 1-0 win at the Withdean followed and a goal in the Saddlers' 2-1 defeat at the Banks's Stadium in January kept the omens coming.

And, as he returns to the club who took him in tomorrow, the 25-year-old admits he owes the Seagulls a debt.

He said: "Things happened at Ipswich, new people took over and people came in. I struggled to play regularly and Brighton gave me a great opportunity.

"They got me playing again every single week and that's what you enjoy most. You don't enjoy sitting on the bench and playing gets your confidence going.

"The club was great and I've a lot to thank them for. Not only did they give me the opportunity to play, but they taught me new things.

"You learn stuff from everyone and it was brilliant. Dean Wilkins and Dean White, the manager and assistant who first brought me in, were great and Micky Adams was really good when he came in.

"It was really good down there. I wasn't playing much at Ipswich so it was a good opportunity to play.

"I made some good friends and really enjoyed how they tried to play football. They tried to get it down and play and that's what I prefer to do. I've got nothing but good memories but a lot has changed.

"I don't know many people down there now but they are still a very strong team and can be contenders this season, they've got some good players."

Despite his affections, there are no divided loyalties and, given the chance to add to his four Walsall goals, Richards will gladly do so.

He said: "I scored against them last year which was nice but I'll score against anyone - it doesn't matter to me. It's going to be a tough game but we went down there last year and put in a great performance.

"We've got to play our own game and then we can definitely get a result."

Darren Byfield is out with Achilles trouble, while Steve Jones is still two weeks away from a return after spraining his ankle in last weekend's impressive 2-1 win over Plymouth.

Jonathan Macken could feature in the squad after shrugging off a calf injury, but is short of match fitness and will not start.

Boss Chris Hutchings wants his men to build on their back-to-back victories against Plymouth and Brentford, but expects Brighton to be strong.

He said: "They play three up front and are a threat going forward, but it's not always about the strikers.

"They have Radostin Kishishev who sits in midfield and dictates the play, so we've got to try and nullify players until they are ineffective.

"They've got a good team and we've got to worry about all of them. We can't just take care of one or two because then a centre-half could score from a set-piece.

"It's about what we do."

By Nick Mashiter