Albion are currently the fittest team in the Second Division as well as the best, and it's all down to the Aussies.

Physio Malcolm Stuart has been left twiddling his thumbs at various stages this season as the table-topping Seagulls have enjoyed remarkably few injuries.

In fact, the expanded treatment facilities at Falmer have been used more by Brighton Bears basketball club.

It's not just a fluke that Albion have so far avoided the kind of crippling casualty list which contributed to boss Peter Taylor's demise at Leicester.

The improvement follows a long-term plan put in place by Stuart and Taylor's predecessor Micky Adams to copy the methods adopted by the Australian Sports Academy.

"It's not an accident, it's by design," Stuart revealed. "We have gone along with a pattern introduced by the Australian Sports Academy, whereby physical fitness will equal less injuries.

"Our squad is fit, they work hard at their fitness and that I believe is why we have less injuries.

"We have been working on it over a two-year period. When Micky came in he was very much into the physical fitness. I kept abreast of things with the Academy and we sat down and organised our pre-season.

"Peter has come in now with a vast knowledge of injury and injury prevention, which has helped us no end.

"It's unlikely to have managers that actually recognise an injury and the reasons for it. We have been lucky to have two, one after the other."

The long-serving Stuart's conversion to Aussie techniques followed a seminar he attended five years ago. He says they have revolutionised the approach to sports injuries.

"It's a form of recognition now that perhaps what we were taught in the past isn't quite correct. It's a matter of keeping an open mind and changing.

"They record the way that people work and they record the best results. They tend to lead you into it rather than sitting in a classroom and being told the best way to work.

"Some years ago we had a group from Loughborough come into the club working on the flexibility of players.

"I recognised then that it didn't follow that the most flexible players were the least injured. In fact it was the opposite.

"The Australian armed forces went on a two year mission of trying to fathom it out and came up with the fact that fitness, not flexibility, is the key.

"You tend to think in all walks of life that we can learn from the Australians. Unfortunately cricket wise it appears we are going to be learning for years to come!

"In all sports they are up there at the top, so you have to listen to what they do and we are working along those lines."

Stuart exploits access to the top experts in his field in this country as well. "It's great for us that Lilleshall is a phone call away," he said.

"There are also people I have kept in touch with in the game at big clubs and we can always delve into them.

"We are now working more conscientiously to prevent injuries rather than cure them. Prevention is far better."

The attention to details appears to be paying off. Stuart added: "There has always been an odd occasion when there have been very few injuries, but this season there have been three or four occasions when I've had none whatsoever," said Stuart.

"It's quite funny when I speak to other physios. Alan Raw at Bury showed me two of his weekly sheets where he had all except two of his players injured at various stages.

"Speaking to the Peterborough physio it was the same thing. He had a collection and they lost a player (Leon McKenzie) through injury against us."

The exception to Albion's injury-free rule has been the unfortunate Daniel Marney. The young striker was working hard in the gym this week as he continues his recovery from a freak recurrence of thigh trouble.

"Danny has been a lifesaver for me," Stuart joked. "Without him I would have had very little to do.

"He worked through pre-season, his fitness level was good and he was playing some of his best football since he has been at the club and made one or two first team squads.

"Then in the first week that Peter was here he pulled a thigh muscle over in training at Horsham. It settled down and everything seemed to be perfect, but literally within 30 seconds of coming on in a reserve game he was re-injured.

"I sent him to Lilleshall last week and he has come back raring to go."

Taylor knows the law of averages suggests Albion's promotion charge will run into injury problems at some point.

"All I've said to the players is we're in good form and we are being lucky with injuries at the moment, so we have got to take advantage of it by picking up the points as quickly as we can."

Andy Naylor andy.naylor @theargus.co.uk