Albion 2 - Wycombe 0

Albion made it two wins out of two under Gus Poyet with a comfortable victory in last night’s FA Cup first round replay at Withdean.

Captain Andrew Crofts and the impressive Elliott Bennett were on target in each half, their third goals of the season.

The Seagulls were not as fluent as they had been against much stiffer opposition at Southampton on Sunday but their progress through to another home tie against Rushden and Diamonds later this month was routine against a poor Wycombe side.

Poyet could even afford to start without first choice strikers Glenn Murray and Nicky Forster, Liam Dickinson and Craig Davies deputising.

Forster replaced Dickinson once Bennett had doubled the lead but Murray was left out of the squad altogether to avoid the risk of a booking and resulting suspension for Saturday’s visit by Leeds.

Albion had little difficulty scoring goals prior to Poyet’s appointment. The most satisfying aspect of his regime so far is that they have yet to concede in open play, although they had one or two awkward moments after Michel Kuipers was forced off at half time.

Poyet’s faith in a second string strikeforce was understandable against a Wycombe side rooted to the foot of the League One table, with an awful recent defensive record.

They followed up the 4-4 draw against Albion in the first meeting by letting in six at Huddersfield on Saturday.

Gary Waddock, seeking his first win at the sixth attempt since replacing former Albion boss Peter Taylor as manager of the Buckinghamshire outfit, rang the changes as a result.

Seagulls’ skipper Adam Virgo, on the bench for the second match in succession, was in good company. Michael Duberry, Wycombe’s regular captain and Poyet’s ex-Chelsea team-mate, was the most noticeable of five casualties of the Huddersfield fiasco.

Craig Woodman, sent off against Albion at Adams Park against Albion, took over the armband from Duberry.

The club did their best to make Poyet feel at home in his first match at Withdean. His walk to the dugout was accompanied by warm applause and a quick burst through the loudspeakers of the Uruguayan national anthem.

The crowd was sparse, which was no surprise, bearing in mind normal admission prices and the more glamorous fixtures on the horizon for Albion.

They saw Poyet’s side in complete command in the early stages, four corners in the opening eight minutes offering a fair reflection of their initial superiority.

From the first of them, taken by Bennett, Crofts almost added to his clinching goal at Southampton with a header narrowly wide of the near post.

Tommy Elphick also had an opportunity from another Bennett set-piece, this time a free-kick, but he headed down and over the crossbar.

Wycombe, adopting a five-man midfield with Matt Harrold a lone front-runner, gradually worked their way into the game after such a shaky start.

They posed little threat, however, and Albion continued to look the team likely to break the deadlock.

Gary Dicker, repeating his influential first half showing at Southampton, set up another chance with a pass over the Wycombe defence for Bennett to run on to.

He cut the ball back and Dickinson’s drive would have troubled keeper Scott Shearer had it not been blocked behind by Chris Westwood.

Bennett really ought to have punctured the visitors’ resistance in the 29th minute when a quickly taken free kick by Crofts released him in behind Woodman with a free run on goal.

The former Wolves winger inexplicably tried to find Davies, instead of shooting himself from close range, and Luke Oliver intervened.

There was a fleeting warning for Albion that they could not afford to be so profligate. Scott Davies, on target in the first game, stung the palms of Kuipers with a shot from 20 yards and Harrold fired wide of the Dutchman’s near post moments later.

Galvanised by the double scare, the Seagulls fashioned the goal their domination deserved in the 36th minute.

Bennett eluded Woodman to stand up an inviting cross which Davies looked like heading in until he was shoved.

The push by Oliver proved irrelevant as it transpired, Crofts slotting in the loose ball from beyond the far post.

A groin problem prevented Kuipers re-appearing for the second half, so Graeme Smith took over in goal.

Wycombe enjoyed a more even share of the possession for a while without looking particularly dangerous and Dickinson almost doubled the advantage in the 58th minute.

Westwood’s indecisive header from a long ball by Elphick allowed Dickinson to lob Shearer but Woodman cleared off the line.

The Seagulls only had to wait four more minutes for the further breakthrough they needed for comfort. It was a fine strike too by Bennett from 30 yards, crisp and low from Crofts’ short pass.

There were a few close shaves for both teams after that, a mix-up between Elphick and Smith almost proving costly, while at the other end Davies’ touch was too heavy when he had the chance to round Shearer.

The Welshman will be back on the bench on Saturday, when Albion will need Murray, Forster and the rest at their best to inflict only a second league defeat on the pacesetters.

ALBION (4-4-2): Kuipers (G. Smith, 46); Whing, Elphick, Tunnicliffe, El-Abd; Bennett, Dicker, Crofts, Cox (McLeod, 72); C. Davies, Dickinson (Forster, 67). Subs not used: Navarro, Livermore, Hart, Virgo.

Scorers: Crofts (36), Bennett (62) Yellow cards: Dicker (71, foul) Wycombe: (4-5-1): Shearer; Mousinho, Westwood, Oliver, Woodman; Betsy, Doherty, S. Davies, Green (Pittman, 59), Phillips (Beavon, 81); Harrold (Zebroski, 68). Subs not used: Duberry, Westlake, Bloomfield, Young.

Yellow cards: Phillips (20, foul).