Adam El-Abd has revealed the pre-game chat which ensured Albion’s defensive players were all on the same wavelength at Gillingham.

The Seagulls fought out a 1-1 draw in a torrid derby battle, with on-loan Uruguayan midfielder Diego Arismendi making his first start for the club.

Arismendi, if anything sitting even deeper than Alan Navarro tends to, looked comfortable on the ball and strong in the tackle in what was effectively a 4-1-4-1 set-up.

He did not undertake the post-match media interviews which would normally be expected of a player on his full debut, which was understandable.

While he is fluent with a ball at his feet, his English is apparently still a work in progress.

But El-Abd, whose first goal in two years was followed by some steely defensive work, reported no communication problems with the new boy in the heat of battle.

He said: "Having Diego there didn’t really change things. They both do the same job. Alan has been terrific there for us but Diego played for 70 minutes and did a good job.

“We had a little chat about how we were going to communicate on the pitch.

“He understands more English than he can speak, for sure, and I thought he was a big presence in midfield. He won a lot in the air, won a lot of second balls and got on the ball when needed.”

So what was the vocabulary which needed sorting out?

“We made sure of left and right, which he kind of knew,” El-Abd added.

“And I told him when I say ‘away’ it means hook it away and he said ‘no problem’.

“He got the gist and did a great job.”

More on Adam El-Abd's Gillingham verdict plus his quest for more goals AND Gus Poyet's sympathetic words for Glenn Murray in The Argus today.