The message from the audience rang out loud and clear in a hushed room.

“Smile!” came the call for Jiri Skalak as he received one of the most prestigious individual awards in the Albion calendar.

He got the message and the grin suddenly beamed from ear to ear from the Czech international, who had just won the club’s goal of the season competition.

But those present need not have worried. Skalak is smiling quite often, certainly when he meets the media, as he makes an impact in English football – and boosts his Euro 2016 chances.

The Argus:

But he was somewhat preoccupied by the challenge of standing in front of a room full of fans and trying to conduct an interview in his still limited English as he stood there at the Amex with the award in his hands.

Albion re-opened their goal of the season poll and extended the voting deadline to cater for Skalak’s screamer against QPR and an Anthony Knockaert free-kick earlier in the same game.

So perhaps it was no surprise to see those two strikes – against a goalkeeper, in Alex Smithies, who had previously kept two clean sheets at the Amex – finish No.2 and No.1.

The mid-season signing from Mlada Boleslav is convinced there is more to come from him.

Asked if he is playing his best football, he replied “I hope not.”

But hard work, discipline and the ability to put a ball on a sixpence are a universal language around the football world.

Skalak told The Argus: “Life has been really nice so far. I’ve got my car, I’ve got a house. The lads are helping me. I want to thanks them because they have helped me settle down.

“The boys and the other people at the club made the transition easy in the beginning. The weather here has been quite good and now the summer is coming it will be even better – although it seems to rain quite a lot!

“The food? Well that is different and something to get used to. But I have a good Italian restaurant nearby I go to quite often. Also, they give us breakfast and lunch at the training ground.”

The Argus:

Skalak's Screamer - against QPR at the Amex

The language remains a challenge but he is taking lessons and speaks a little better than he seems to realise. Many of his foreign predecessors with the Seagulls have come from a Hispanic background and into a club with a strong Latin continent.

Inigo Calderon, right, had decent English when he arrived in early 2010 and Adrian Colunga was keen to give the language a go. By contrast Vicente, David Lopez, Bruno and Leo Ulloa had no English between them.

While Vicente was, shall we say, relaxed about picking up the lingo, the other three progressed from pretty much zero to a position where they could do interviews in English.

Skalak does not have that sort of support – even from a Polish or Croatian team-mate who speaks a language at least a little similar to Czech.

But he said: “That’s good. I have to speak English. I don’t know Czech people here.”

The former Sparta Prague prospect has pushed himself right back to the front of the queue for a starting role at Euro 2016 under a Czech coach who sets great store by players being regulars for their club sides.

The Argus:

Skalak in the colours of the Czech Republic

Reports in the Czech Republic suggested Skalak had lost prime billing with boss Pavel Vrba as he struggled to get minutes in the English second tier. But that is changing.

“People thought Jiri can be helpful for our national team,” said Vaclav Jares of Czech football magazine FootMag.

“But I think that this situation is changing with him. People now know he could be REALLY helpful for our national team in France.

“He has to keep his progress and play in the Brighton team because Vrba said months ago that he wants to have national team players who play for their club teams.”

Skalak had just made his match-winning contribution at MK Dons, in only his second Championship start, at the time of the last international get-together.

Vrba expressed a little concern about his form then but things have changed.

Skalak was certainly smiling when he came out to meet the press after his goal at Charlton and gave his first two answers in English.

Keep playing like this and he will need his serious face in France – for when he walks out for his nation’s Euro opener.