Hitman Byfield targets Albion

9:55pm Wednesday 3rd December 2008

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Just when Albion thought their plight at the wrong end of the table could not get much worse, a player they have tried to sign twice is lying in wait to grab his first goal for his latest club.

Darren Byfield was in Sussex in the summer to marry R&B singer-songwriter Jamelia.

The Seagulls tried to lure him back to the county in October, with Nicky Forster and Glenn Murray sidelined by injuries.

Byfield turned them down and made a temporary move instead to Saturday’s hosts Oldham from Championship strugglers Doncaster Rovers.

“I’d had a hernia and had not been playing, so I wanted to get out and get some games,” Byfield explained.

"My agent told me Brighton wanted me to go there on loan. It would have been nice but it was all a bit too far from Birmingham, where I’m based.

“I have got a family and I have just got married – it was just the location.”

It is not the only time geography has played a part in preventing a marriage between Byfield and Albion.

They also tried to buy him from Millwall during the January transfer window last year.

“I wanted to move closer to the Midlands at that time,” he said. “It is probably the only reason I didn't end up there but I knew about their interest. Eventually I went to Bristol City.”

Byfield cannot have any regrets over his latest rejection of Albion’s advances.

They head for Boundary Park with only four teams below them, while Oldham are fourth in the League One table.

“It has been good so far, although I have not played anywhere near as well as I know I can,” Byfield said.

“Last week (against Walsall) was only the sixth game I have played all season but we have won all three matches I have played in for Oldham so that’s good.

“I am desperate for a goal. Hopefully it will come against Brighton on Saturday if I am selected.”

While Forster and Murray are widely acknowledged to be one of the best strike pairings in League One, Byfield and Lee Hughes looks a pretty tasty combination too.

The former Coventry and West Brom marksman, who commanded a £5 million transfer fee prior to a well-publicised spell at Her Majesty’s Pleasure, is Byfield’s travelling companion as well as his partner on the pitch.

“We already knew each other, more from the social circuit,” said Byfield.

“We’ve not played together before so the more we do the better the understanding we will develop.

“It would be nice if he sets me up, because he is scoring them all himself!”

Albion have been hurt by the goalscoring prowess of both Byfield and Hughes in the past.

Byfield was a matchwinner for Millwall at Withdean Hughes was on target in the 1-1 draw against the Seagulls at Boundary Park last season.

Manager Micky Adams is well aware of the threat they pose to Albion’s hopes of pulling off a much-needed win.

He said: “Oldham have sent out (Craig) Davies to Stockport and we saw what a good player he was last week so they must have some good strikers.”