Albion were sunk by a goal out of the blue at Derby today.

The Seagulls went down 1-0 to cap a difficult week.

Robert Bamford came off the bench to hit the winner on his home debut with a curler from the edge of the box in the 75th minute.

Defeat was harsh on the Seagulls in a game of few chances.

They were denied once in each half by Lee Grant.

The home goalkeeper got up to tip a powerful Matt Upson header over the bar in the first half.

He then dived low to his right to grab a drive by Leo Ulloa, who seemed to be pulled back as he shot, just after Bamford’s goal.

Albion played some neat football but generally lacked a cutting edge.

Andrea Orlandi started a game for the time since the opening day of the season and successfully came through 67 minutes.