Bottom-half duo Brighton & Hove Albion and Fulham will be desperate for a win at The Amex on Saturday to drag themselves away from the Championship's relegation zone.

Hosts Brighton enter the match 20th in the table and only out of the bottom three on goal difference.

They are on a three-game unbeaten run, though, and last weekend picked up a point in a six-goal game on the road at playoff contenders Norwich City.

Sami Hyypia was busy ahead of the loan window closing earlier today. Experienced poacher Darren Bent has joined from Aston Villa, while Elliot Bennett's loan from Norwich City has been extended.

With strikers Craig Mackail-Smith and Chris O'Grady both leaving the club on loan, Hyypia appears confident that Bent can come in and do the business up front in what will be his first second-tier appearance for almost 10 years.

He certainly needs to play better than he has of late - he's scored just one goal in his last 18 competitive appearances.

Fulham's bubble under Kit Symons has burst a little of late with just one win in their last four games.

They are back near the drop zone after heartbreak at Brentford last week. The Cottagers had grabbed a 1-0 lead and looked on course for their second straight win until a pair of late goals from Brentford saw them lose to their West London counterparts.

Centre-back Dan Burn picked up his fifth yellow card of the season at Griffin Park so will have to miss the trip down South to the coast. Shaun Hutchinson could replace him in defence.

Symons has said that Jack Grimmer could feature after he was recalled from his loan at Shrewsbury Town, while teenage midfielder Seko Fofana has joined on loan from Manchester City.

On Saturday, it will be exactly 18 years since the last meeting between the two sides in the League Cup.

Brighton:

Form in Championship: DDLWDD
Form in all competitions: DLLWDD

Possible starting lineup: Stockdale; Bruno, Greer, Hughes, J.Bennett; Ince, Forster-Caskey; LuaLua, Gardner, Colunga; Bent

Fulham:

Form in Championship: DWDDWL
Form in all competitions: WLDDWL

Possible starting lineup: Bettinelli; Zverotic, Bodurov, Hutchinson, Stafylidis; Christensen, Parker, Williams, Ruiz; Rodallega, McCormack

Sports Mole says: 2-2

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