Albion strikers join the party

Slowly but surely it is all coming together for Albion.

The midfielders, particularly Dean Hammond and Dean Cox, have been scoring goals and the defenders have been snuffing out the opposition.

Now the strikers are gradually warming to their task as well.

A pair of them were on target in the same match for the first time this season, Nicky Forster coming off the bench in the second half to add two goals to Bas Savage's first-half header.

The significance of that particular statistic was not lost on manager Dean Wilkins. He knows Albion need more goals from the front men to sustain an increasingly convincing challenge for promotion.

He said: "It's important that all of the front players are scoring regularly. We've had midfield players doing it up to now but you cannot rely on them, so it is good to see two front players scoring in a single game."

Albion saw Forster as the answer to their goalscoring problems when they bought him from Hull for £75,000 in the summer.

It has taken time for the 34-year-old to settle in and he has not been helped by injury and illness since an influential display at Bournemouth last month.

Forster has bagged four goals in 12 appearances now, which sounds a lot better than the two he had managed in his first ten starts.

He may be past his peak but, after spending the previous five seasons in the Championship with Reading, Ipswich and Hull, it still looks like money well spent.

Savage has, by contrast, been in relative terms a goalscoring revelation.

The amiable giant had hit the target just twice in 62 League appearances for Reading, Wycombe Wanderers, Bury, Bristol City and Gillingham when he was signed on a free transfer in January.

He has now notched nine in 29 for the Seagulls and three in the last seven games.

Savage said: "For all my good bits of play I never used to make the box that much.

"Now I am arriving at pace in the box and I am getting into goalscoring positions, being there when the ball drops.

"Before I might have stood and watched or been at the start of a move. I am getting on the end of moves now as well."

Credit for Savage's transformation must go to Wilkins and his coaching staff for the work they have done with him on the training ground.

Wilkins really seems to be getting the hang of things now. He had some tricky decisions to make after Forster, having recovered from a pulled thigh muscle, missed the victory at Hartlepool with a stomach bug.

Who to play up front following a second hernia operation in a matter of months for Alex Revell was not the only teaser.

George O'Callaghan was available again after returning to Ipswich for treatment on a hamstring tear which ruled him out against Hartlepool and Leeds. Savage, fresh from his stoppage-time winner in the North-East, was given the nod to partner Jake Robinson and O'Callaghan, like Forster, had to wait for his turn, Tommy Fraser continuing in central midfield.

It worked like a dream with Savage and Forster both scoring and O'Callaghan providing Forster's second goal.

Not that it was all quite as smooth as the scoreline suggests. Albion laboured in the first half until Savage, scandalously unmarked, headed in a pinpoint free-kick from Matt Richards via a post.

Luton were still well in the match until the arrival of Forster midway through the second half, not at the expense of Robinson or Savage but in place of Dean Cox.

Within three minutes he capitalised on hesitancy by Chris Perry on the edge of the area with a precise left-foot finish.

A 2-0 lead at that stage flattered Albion and Luton's hopes of adding to a solitary point away from Kenilworth Road were lifted when Calvin Andrew headed back a delightful cross from Darren Currie at the far post for David Edwards to volley in from close range.

Curiously, Luton chief Kevin Blackwell immediately took off both Andrew and Edwards and the Hatters' comeback evaporated in the space of a minute.

Left-back Alan Goodall had already been booked when he was sent-off for a second yellow card offence, a reckless tackle on Robinson.

No sooner had he departed than Forster soared at the far post to head O'Callaghan's cross into the roof of the net.

The collective lack of goals from Albion's forwards has not been entirely their fault. They have often suffered from a lack of service in the absence of natural width.

Cox, who likes to probe from deep, and David Martot are not wingers in the traditional sense. What a pity that Currie chose Luton in the summer, rather than returning to Withdean.

Currie's delivery from wide areas is outstanding and he almost scored in each half with shots from outside the box which brought the best out of Michel Kuipers.

Luton, apart from woeful defending for Albion's first two goals, were not that bad and will surely start climbing the table once Paul Furlong, Sam Parkin and Paul Peschisolido are all fit.

The Seagulls were not that good and yet ran out comfortable winners in the end.

That, together with much greater depth to the squad and the promise of a more prolific contribution from the front men, could just see them go all the way in a very ordinary division.

ALBION (4-4-2): Michel Kuipers (GK), Andrew Whing (RB), Tommy Elphick (CB), Adam El-Abd (CB), Matt Richards (LB), David Martot (LM), Tommy Fraser (CM), Dean Hammond (CM), Dean Cox (LM), Bas Savage (CF), Jake Robinson (CF). Subs: Nicky Forster (for Cox 66), George O'Callghan (for Fraser 52), Guy Butters, Nathan Elder, John Sullivan. YELLOW CARDS: None.

RED CARDS: None.

GOALS: Savage 40, Forster 69, 84.

LUTON (4-4-1-1): Dean Brill (GK), Chris Perry (RB), Jaroslaw Fojut (CB), Chris Coyne (CB), Alan Goodall (LB), David Bell (RM), Steve Robinson (CM), Matthew Spring (CM), Darren Currie (LM), David Edwards (CF), Calvin Andrew (CF). Subs: Paul McVeigh (for Bell 66), Don Hutchison (for Edwards 80), Richard Jackson (for Andrew 80), Stephen O'Leary, Dean Morgan. YELLOW CARDS: Spring 62 (foul), Goodall 73 (dissent), 83 (foul), Robinson 83 (dissent).

RED CARDS: Goodall (two bookables).

GOAL: Edwards 79.

Should Nicky Forster start against Walsall on Tuesday?