Amid all the justified condemnation of the horror tackle by Miguel Britos on Anthony Knockaert and Albion's subsequent failure to score against Watford's ten men, one factor was overlooked.

The Seagulls kept their first clean sheet in the top flight of English football since defeating Coventry 1-0 at the Goldstone in April 1983.

Former Albion defender Adam Virgo regards it as a telling statistic. A few more of them could, he believes, be the route to Premier League survival as the Seagulls close in on the loan signing of 24-year-old Dutch defender Stefano Denswil from FC Brugge.

Albion have not started a season with staying up as the aim since Virgo was part of the side promoted to the Championship at Withdean under Mark McGhee.

The stage, the level and the characters were different but Virgo, now making a living as a media pundit (below centre), detects similarities in the circumstances and the mindset required by Chris Hughton's squad to remain among the elite.

The Argus: After conceding two cheap goals at Leicester, Albion were a lot sounder at Watford in collecting their first point from the opening three games.

In 2004-05, they had only one point from their first four matches. McGhee temporarily converted Virgo from a sturdy centre-half into a goalscoring centre-forward, an emergency measure which, even with the current striker situation, Hughton will not have cause to repeat.

McGhee's Albion were ultimately saved, by a point and two places, thanks to a knack of grinding out 1-0 wins. Each of their first seven victories prior to Christmas were by that score. Virgo said: "We made a real effort that if we were going to lose games we weren't going to lose them by poor goals (Leicester).

"It was a lot harder when we didn't have the ball and that sacrificed things in the final third. I think it was only Crewe at home, when we lost 4-1, that we let ourseleves down.

"If you look at most of the games that season it was by the odd goal.

"But I think the similarities are we had a pretty solid back four at the time, Danny Cullip and Butts (Guy Butters), Duffy and Dunk.

"We had Dan Harding at left-back. Now they've got Suttner, who likes to get forward.

"They just cannot afford to give away poor goals, because at the highest level you don't get too many chances when you are near the bottom.

"If we gave away a silly goal there wasn't much chance of us scoring two. We went to West Ham and won 1-0, the same at Leicester. We won a lot of games by the odd goal, not two. We knew defensively was the most important thing and I think this season as well the defence are going to keep them in the League.

"It's not going to be Knockaert scoring 15 goals, Muzza, even though hopefully he can get into double figures. It's the back four and the goalkeeper. They have to be solid.

"We had quite a few changes in goal that season. Michel (Kuipers) played for a little bit, then the American (David Yelldell) came in, the Arsenal keeper (Rami Shaaban) for a game, but our back four was pretty solid and our two holding midfielders, Charlie (Oatway) and Chippy (Richard Carpenter).

"The back four is going to be vital. If they can start keeping a few clean sheets, that is where the similarities will be to us. We didn't score many that season, so Brighton can't afford to concede poor goals like the second one at Leicester and even the first one.

"I cannot remember us conceding within a minute. It was always about staying in the game. Against Sheffield United we just stayed in the game and Leon Knight scored late.

"We played games in periods. First 15 was just don't concede, doesn't matter if we don't have a shot.

"We then worked our way into the game and set plays were vital for us, Butts scoring at West Ham. You have seen already this season, Huddersfield at Palace scored a couple of goals from set plays. It's absolutely crucial."

Virgo sees another parallel between the escapologists he was part of at Albion and the current circumstances - approaching the majority of matches as underdogs.

"Brighton have more quality than we had, that's obvious, and they've got more money," he said. "But they will be expected to be beaten going into most games. That was like us and it made us stronger as a squad.

"We felt if we believed ourselves we could get something, that was all that mattered. That played a vital part as well."

Albion's tradition is about flamboyance rather than dour defiance. Mike Bailey's pragmatic, cautious approach eventually cost him his job after keeping the club in the top flight for a season.

It may not sit well with supporters expecting to be entertained at the Amex - but the clean sheet mentality of the other Albion visiting next under Tony Pulis will have a role to play if the far less talented team Virgo featured in is to be emulated.