Albion 0, Bristol City 1

Albion's trophy trip-up had a flashing red light attached to it for the Premier League.

The Seagulls cannot afford the type of performance they produced too often, if at all, if they are going to survive next season.

Chris Hughton knows that. He made a telling remark as he digested a disappointing defeat after a promotion lap of honour muted by the failure to secure the victory required to add the title.

Hughton said: "I learn every game about players. Certainly, when things haven't gone so well, you perhaps a learn a little bit more.

"We are going to have to play at a level far more next season to make sure we are in the Premier League the following season. That will be every game."

The emphasis was on every game, all 38 of them. Play like this and Albion will not be just beaten narrowly, they will lose heavily.

At least they have another crack at it, a third chance to go up as champions at Aston Villa on Sunday. A match which threatened to be meaningless has now assumed far more significance in two respects.

Firstly, of course, the destiny of the Championship winners' trophy. It is still in Albion's hands, so to speak, with a point advantage over Newcastle.

Rafa Benitez's pursuers have a better goal difference and a friendlier-looking fixture at home to Barnsley, although as Bristol City demonstrated yet again in an ultra-competitive division, looks can often be deceiving.

More important than the silverware and bragging rights of going up as champions is Albion rediscovering their mojo in the West Midlands with an improved display.

They have not lost three league games in a row under Hughton for 15 months. Such a sequence would leave a nasty taste in the mouth going into the summer preparations for the sizeable task ahead.

The lethargic defeat at Norwich, four days after the collective outpouring of emotions at clinching promotion, was understandable, predictable even.

Newcastle recovered in similar circumstances to win at Cardiff on Friday evening but Hughton was right to identify a key difference in expectations.

"It has certainly been an emotional time and we are probably a little bit different from Newcastle," he said. "They went down from the Premier League, have gone back up and would probably have expected to go back up.

"Certainly the feel in Brighton, no disrespect to Newcastle, would be greater. They have been there before, they are a Premier League club. So it is obviously a bigger deal for us."

Harder to explain than the defeat at Carrow Road is why Albion again lacked the intensity and spark which has taken them to where they are.

Especially with so many more elements stacked in their favour - eight days to prepare, a record crowd, formidable home form and opponents effectively, if not mathematically, safe from relegation.

Hughton was puzzled. He said: "Is it down to the fact that we are already promoted? It's impossible for me to answer that. I haven't seen it.

"They trained well all week. Possibly the Norwich game was very quick after the Wigan game but we had a good week's preparation. It reiterates how tough this league is.

"Bristol hadn't lost for four games so they came here in good form with the same team for five games on the spin, so you've also got to give them credit. But we certainly didn't have the quality we know we have."

Within that assessment is the saving grace, a reminder that the players should not be too severe in their naval-gazing.

To have achieved promotion with three matches to spare, to be ten points clear of Reading in third, 18 above Leeds in seventh in a league bereft of gimmies is outstanding. In reflecting on a deflating day, nobody should lose sight of that.

Hughton freshened the team up with five changes, yet Albion looked jaded throughout, as if the relentlessly rigorous demands of the Championship combined with the promotion celebrations has drained them of inspiration.

The Argus: He made further adjustments sooner than normal, introducing Solly March for the recalled Jiri Skalak (above) for the second half and Steve Sidwell for Beram Kayal soon after the break, but it had only a marginal impact.

The attacking efforts were generally pedestrian. Bristol defended well to become the first team to prevent Albion, dominant in terms of possession, from scoring at the Amex since Brentford in September but their job was made easier by a lack of quality with the final ball into the box.

Even Anthony Knockaert (below) and Glenn Murray, so often the architects of Albion's victories this season, were a little off-colour.

The Argus: The malaise was encapsulated by Murray, finally receiving the type of service he thrives on, heading a Knockaert cross straight into the arms of Frank Fielding in the closing stages.

The goal that cost Albion only their third home league defeat, just before the break, was the product of loose defending. They were in trouble from the moment Lewis Dunk lost out to Josh Brownhill and was sucked out of position.

Brownhill released Matty Taylor and continued his run to head in the cross, unmarked in-between Kayal and Uwe Huenemeier, his first goal since scoring in the League One play-offs for former club Barnsley 11 months ago.

How comforting that Albion, in their current mini-dip, have only a trophy to play for on the final day rather than promotion or those wretched play-offs.