It is the bold tactical move you suspect Dean Wilkins would love to make.

The temptation to get his most skilful, inventive player as close to the action, and give his side greater creativity going forward, is too great to be ignored.

But, as the Seagulls head to Chester City tomorrow and their final dress rehearsal for the League One season, the question they might be pondering is: Can Dean Cox be used as a central midfield playmaker?

The second-year starter was excellent in possesson in the first half against Woking on Wednesday.

It was something of a surprise to see him line-up alongside Dean Hammond at kick-off time.

After all, looking at the 11 players on the team sheet, the more likely choice seemed to be Tommy Fraser in the centre and Cox out on the left flank. That is how they finished the game.

But, as Wilkins looked back on a 1-1 draw with Conference opposition, he drew satisfaction from what Cox had done in a central role before that switch was made.

The Seagulls boss also insisted his players will be ready to adapt to whatever plan he comes up with for the trip to Gresty Road.

Wilkins, himself a creator on the ball in his playing days, said: "Dean Cox does things that I like to see.

"His enthusiasm to get on the ball is infectious and his desire to hurt the opposition with a pass or a dribble or a cross is exactly what we want.

"It's something we need more of. I was pleased with his contribution."

There are potential pitfalls. On Wednesday, Albion used Jake Robinson wide on the right but asked left-sided Fraser to play a more half-and-half role, operating as an extra central midfielder at times.

Wilkins added: "We want to make sure if he (Cox) ever played in there in a two, we would still be able to cope physically and defensively.

"Could we afford to play with two wide players or do we have to balance it off with one more midfield player who tucks in and one wider?

"We were just tinkering with that and seeing what happened.

"I thought Dean's contribution was good in the first half."

On a perfect pitch in pre-season, Cox stole the show for 45 minutes on Wednesday.

He had the ability to make space for himself, sometimes with a clever first touch, other times with just a body feint, and his passing was crisp and accurate.

The poor ball he played, too close to the left-back when the chance was opening up to send Robinson clear down the right, was notable for being the exception to the rule.

Otherwise his use of the ball was good, notably a cleverly improvised right foot cross from the right which set up Tommy Elphick's 13th-minute goal.

Cox was used as a third attacker just behind the front two by Mark McGhee in the pre-season game at Le Havre last year and was in a central midfield role in the first friendly at Worthing this year.

Whenever asked about his favoured role, the answer is always the same: "Wherever the manager picks me."

But the smart money probably remains on Albion going with a more physically powerful central duo in the hurly burly of a long League campaign, with the option of switching Cox to a more central role during a game if they feel he needs to get on the ball more often.

Remember, even on Wednesday, Adam El-Abd was due to start the game.

Cox got his chance in the middle as result of El-Abd's late withdrawal having felt a twinge in the warm-up.

Whatever the line-up, creativity was the theme of Wilkins' post-match comments on Wednesday and will be what he and the fans who make the trip to the Deva Stadium will be looking for tomorrow.

Wilkins said: "Firstly we need to make things happen from the first whistle, then I think we need to improve the quality that's going in the box to give us a fighting chance of scoring.

"Whenever we did that (at Woking), whenever we landed balls in good areas, we made the keeper make saves, we scored one and we had some scrambles in there."

Where is Dean Cox's best position?