Gary Hart's bid to earn a new deal at Brighton gathered pace after he scored one and made one in his first friendly appearance of pre-season.The Seagulls stalwart, who was released by previous manager Dean Wilkins at the end of last season but is continuing to train with the squad, rolled back the years with an all-action performance in the 2-0 win at Burgess Hill.

Hart's clever pass allowed skipper-for-the-night Steve Thomson to open the scoring in the first half before the 31-year-old, who has a testimonial against Charlton at the end of the month, nodded a second just after the break.

Despite a comfortable win, current manager Micky Adams knows his side will have to sharpen up as the new season draws closer.

"The one thing we have learnt is we have got to pass the ball a little bit quicker and the more we do that against this type of opposition the better we will be," said Adams.

"But it was a decent work-out. We enjoyed a 2-0 win and kept a clean sheet."

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