Steve Coppell is banking on Simon Rodger and Dean Blackwell filling the holes left by two of last season's most influential players.

Junior Lewis and Simon Morgan were each in their own way instrumental in the Seagulls' Second Division title triumph.

Left-footed Lewis gave Albion a new dimension in midfield during the run-in, Morgan's know-how at the heart of the defence was vital throughout the campaign.

Now Steve Coppell appears to have come up with a couple of ready-made replacements. For Lewis read Simon Rodger, for Morgan insert Dean Blackwell.

Rodger grabbed the headlines with his goalscoring full debut in the overdue victory against Bradford last Saturday.

Coppell also acknowledged the key part played by Blackwell on his home bow as Albion claimed their first points in 13 matches.

The former Wimbledon stalwart forged a promising alliance with captain Danny Cullip which could be the foundation of the survival effort if, as Blackwell hopes, he stays for the rest of the season.

The Londoner, signed like Rodger on a monthly contract following brief stints with Watford, Wycombe and Orient, said: "To get a partnership going usually takes a few games. We have been playing alongside each other in training as much as possible.

"I'm a few games from full match sharpness. If it is fast in the first ten minutes then it seems to catch up with me quite quickly until I get into it. Hopefully a few more games and I should be there.

"It's up to me to do my best and then for Brighton to decide. I'm just going to be out there playing my guts out and we'll see what happens.

"In an ideal world if we've done well over the month it will carry on to the end of the season, but obviously that's up to Brighton and also up to me to prove myself."

Albion can only benefit if Blackwell's link-up with Cullip proves anything like as effective as his double act at Wimbledon with Chris Perry.

The Camden-born stopper, 33 next month, made 205 League appearances in 14 years with the Dons.

More than 150 of those came during eight consecutive seasons in the Premiership, including three top ten finishes for the club that habitually defied the odds.

In his brief time with Albion, Blackwell has already noticed similarities with the Crazy Gang spirit for which Wimbledon were renowned.

"The spirit is really good. The lads are going to fight it all the way, you can just tell. They are going to give it their best shot without a doubt.

"I know from Wimbledon the season we went down I think we probably needed a point from the last 12 games and never managed to do it, but it wasn't for the want of trying.

"We literally tried everything and it's the same here. There's a great atmosphere.

"There are similarities between us and Wimbledon. Coming up and with the way things have gone we are basically underdogs for every game. Players don't mind that, it takes a bit of pressure off if anything."

Albion will certainly be the underdogs against Wolves on Monday. Molineux is the sort of stage Blackwell has been accustomed to during his career, but he is no big time charlie. What did he make of Withdean? "It was fine. I didn't really think about it. I've played at Wimbledon with a lot less people.

"There was a good atmosphere and the fans kept us going in the last ten minutes when we needed them."

The Bradford result erased an unhappy return to Selhurst Park for Blackwell. He made his Albion debut a week earlier in the 5-0 mauling by Crystal Palace.

"We had seen a video of Bradford and we set our stall out," he said. "We mainly kept to it. We changed it slightly in the last ten minutes, but it was quite a good performance.

"It's getting that first one out of the way after a bad run. Hopefully we can go forward now. When you have lost your last 12 grinding out results is how it is going to be. We were all very disappointed with the Palace result, but we put it behind us. We didn't talk about it much.

"It was terrible and you do feel down. It was the way we lost it, two set pieces and two penalties. You know they are things you can work on and get rid of, so we forgot about that game and knew we had to work hard on the training pitch."

Blackwell won six England under 21 caps earlier in his career. He was impressed by the penalty taking and performance of Albion's young England prospect Bobby Zamora against Bradford.

"Bobby was fantastic. He gave us a bit of breathing space at the other end. In most games now we are going to be under a lot of pressure and that just relieves it.

"You can tell Bobby is a good goalscorer. Besides that he has a good attitude in training. He is working to get better and better.

"He's got a bit of everything and with the hard work he puts in as well he is going to be okay. Hopefully that will take him into the Premiership."

With Blackwell's track record he should know.