Brighton face battle for Gifton

Last updated : 12 June 2006 By Tony Scholes

That other club was Plymouth, there is no doubt that Tony Pulis was trying to take the striker to Home Park but Pulis is unlikely to be manager there for many more hours and that would presumably bring an end to their interest.

A move to Stoke would probably not mean Pulis wanting to take him back there, given that he's going in there with some serious money to spend to strengthen their squad for the new season.

It looks as though the main rivals to Brighton will now be Swansea, they were linked with a move for him during last season, but again with them failing to win promotion they will not have league status over Brighton.

The player himself has just returned from holiday in Grenada and told the Brighton press, “I've been out of the country for a couple of weeks so I don't know what has been happening while I've been away. I am waiting to speak to my agent.”

Regarding a move to the Withdean, he added: “I enjoyed my time down at Brighton and I liked the people and the whole set up. As for signing on a full time basis, I don't really know. It is one of my main options right now and if they were in the Championship still it wouldn't be an issue.

“Career wise you want to play at the highest level possible for as long as possible, so I don't really want to go into the lower leagues. I would prefer to stay in the Championship and whether that will be a deciding factor I don't know.”

Gifton is one of four players on the transfer list at the Turf. Leicester appear to have cooled on a move for Micah Hyde, whilst there has been no news of any interest in Duane Courtney or Danny Karbassiyoon, although manager Steve Cotterill has confirmed there have been enquiries for all four of them.