Albion 3, Coventry 1

Albion are heading into the final 11 games of their bid to stay in the Premier League in the best shape they have been in all season.

They are unbeaten in five matches, as they were in October and November when they rose to ninth in the table.

Two of the games in the run this time have been against inferior opposition, Middlesbrough from the Championship and Coventry from League Two in the FA Cup.

The crucial difference for manager Chris Hughton is he now has the firepower options to improve the prospects of extending the sequence.

Three goalscorers to choose from in Jurgen Locadia, Leo Ulloa and Glenn Murray for Saturday's key visit by Swansea and beyond.

Resting Murray, who scored the winner in Wales earlier in the season and has been in prolific form of late, allowed Hughton to play Locadia and Ulloa.

Both were on target in a routine victory which has secured a quarter-final trip to Manchester United next month.

The fixtures before that, at home to Swansea and Arsenal and away to Everton, are more important. Adding Locadia (below) and Ulloa last month to an almost fully fit squad has given Albion an edge over many of their rivals in the congested bottom half of the table.

The Argus: Hughton said: "It was a difficult decision, two strikers when it's probably the only area in the squad that we have got a lot of players.

"We've got a lot of options and I knew that would cause some headaches but it's such a vitally important area of the pitch that I wanted those options. It makes life a bit harder but it's good to have them."

The victims, Sam Baldock and Tomer Hemed, have both been been good servants to the club and will continue to be. Injuries or suspensions could change the picture but there is no room for sentiment for Hughton with Premier League survival at stake.

Albion did not spend a record £14 million on Locadia and a loan fee to bring back Ulloa from Leicester for them to be sitting in the stands. Either from the start or the bench they will have big roles to play.

Locadia is off to a flyer after scoring 15 minutes into a debut delayed by a hamstring injury he suffered in Holland ten weeks ago, well before Albion clinched his capture from PSV Eindhoven.

He could, make that should, have scored more in the first half before he tired and was replaced by Baldock once Ulloa had put the tie well beyond Coventry.

By then Locadia had exhibited the combination of movement, mobility and scoring power Hughton had been after since the summer.

"We are still learning about him," Hughton said. "When you bring a player you have watched him and know the type of player he is but sometimes a player comes in and does things a little bit different to what you thought or he is better at something that you thought.

"You really learn in the games. Training is different, they all train well."

Albion imposed themselves from the outset. Locadia had already swivelled to strike the bar from close range following a corner when he swept home Anthony Knockaert's cross with a first-time finish.

An air shot, a full-stretch attempt to convert one of several inviting crosses from Markus Suttner which ended up wide of the target and a The Argus: drive straight at keeper Lee Burge followed before half-time.

Albion were two goals to the good by that stage, Connor Goldson heading in Suttner's corner at the far post (above), his first goal for 22 months and first since his heart surgery at the end of March.

As Hughton remarked: "It was good to score from a corner rather than concede from one. It needed a wonderful ball from Markus but he (Goldson) has earned it. Everybody here knows what we think of him."

Just past the hour Ulloa reminded us of his aerial prowess with a twisting header from ten yards into the roof of the net when unmarked from Bruno's pinpoint cross.

"That's Leo, that's the type of player he is," Hughton said. "He relies on service into the box and it was wonderful service from Bruno. He is that type of number nine."

Coventry kept going and nobody deserved a consolation more than Jonson Clarke-Harris, who slotted in from Goldson's unconvincing header following Burge's long punt into the penalty area.

The striker re-signed from Rotherham had Coventry's 'if only' moment, a header against the bar from an early corner at 0-0. He also hit a post with a deft touch shortly after Ulloa scored.

Coventry gave it a go in search of a second and Albion were a bit sloppy late-on but the result did not really reflect the extent of their superiority.

Hughton said: "It was important for us to win. We were conscious we were up against a team a few divisions lower and we had to work hard and make sure we showed that.

"A win is a win, goals are goals and it keeps a good run going. More importantly, it keeps really good competition in the squad going into this last period of the season."

A trip to Old Trafford is not much of a reward. Hughton, after nine changes, will probably field much closer to his best eleven for that one, although his best eleven is now more difficult to identify.