Albion boss Dean Wilkins has challenged his players to become pass masters again to launch a climb back up the League One table.

The Seagulls have dropped from seventh in December to 14th, a decline in form which Wilkins attributes to shortcomings in possession.

He said: "Our ball retention hasn't been as good and we haven't passed the ball with the same fluency as we did before Christmas.

"The number of crosses we are getting into the box has dipped as well and they go hand in hand.

"We are now coming into a run of games that are going to be really important to us.

"Out of the last 12 games we've had, eight have been away, so we've had a pretty tough time on the road at a time when players were leaving as well, which made things doubly difficult.

"What we need to do now is to try and steady the ship and improve results. We have got a lot of home games coming up and we are looking to get a good number of wins from those games."

That quest starts against Crewe but Wilkins warns it won't be easy, with new players needing time to bed in.

He said: "It's not going to happen overnight.

"You are hoping bits and pieces will start to happen immediately but sometimes you have to be a little bit patient.

"We will be working hard to try and make sure we get back to some fluency. The other night against Northampton I am absolutely certain we were the better side and should have won, so even in that defeat there were some positives."