ALBION’S prospects of mounting a promotion challenge next season will be defined by Gus Poyet’s summer transfer business.

There will be numerous new faces and, based on how he has done so far in this crucial element of the manager’s role, chairman Tony Bloom can trust Poyet to spend his money wisely.

Not every single signing a manager makes will pay off. That is just the nature of the beast. The trick is to get more right than wrong and, in this respect, Poyet’s transfer dealings to date have more than lived up to expectations.

Consider how he has transformed the defence with the signings of Peter Brezovan, Inigo Calderon and Marcos Painter.

Painter’s return from a three-match absence and an instant recall for Tommy Elphick enabled Poyet to restore the back five that served the Seagulls so well from late February and through March.

The result? A sixth clean sheet for them in nine games together. That, more than anything, has ensured Albion are effectively safe, with three games to spare.

Lee Hendrie has added a touch of class in midfield, the once-again hamstrung Kazenga LuaLua explosive pace out wide. And then there is Ashley Barnes.

Hands up who was a tad concerned when Nicky Forster went on loan to Charlton in the final few hours of the loan transfer window last month and Poyet responded by drafting in a little-known 20-year-old reserve from Plymouth Argyle?

Barnes was a more familiar name locally than would otherwise have been the case, courtesy of a free-scoring loan stint with Eastbourne Borough last season, but that was in the Conference.

Could he fill Forster’s experienced boots and cut the mustard in League One? You bet he has.

Barnes’ instinctive first-half winner at Southend was his third goal in six appearances.

In fact, it was his third goal in the equivalent of less than four games, given that he has been a sub as often as he has started.

That is pretty damn good. Forster, incidentally, has scored twice in six outings for Charlton.

Barnes was hand-picked. Poyet needed not a direct replacement for Forster but somebody who would be happy to sit on the bench at times, due to the success of the 4-5-1 formation with Glenn Murray as a lone striker. Poyet said: “We were just waiting for the right time to get him, because it would have been different, of course, if Nicky had still been here.

“He has proved that everything we did in searching for the player was right and that is the main point. The recruitment nowadays is very important.

“When you bring in players you have to be spot-on. Of course, you are going to make a mistake, of course one is not going to work as well as you think, but if you go through Peter, Calde, Marcos, it has been absolutely fantastic.”

It is a trend Poyet will be endeavouring to maintain in the coming months, with a combination of signings for purely the present and others for both the present and longer term future.

He said: “There are going to be players you are bringing in for years, to go up and stay up, another one is to help you get up from this division.

“The right combination is the key.and it is going to be so difficult to get that combination.”

Winning games when not playing very well will also be critical to Albion’s chances of being promoted next season.

Poyet was right when he said they had played better in a lot of games than they did at Southend without getting a result.

Barnes secured their eighth win of the campaign after a quarter-of-an-hour. He accidentally got in the way of Calderon’s shot before guiding in Hendrie’s follow-up drive.

It was a strangely subdued contest in the Essex sunshine, lacking the kind of edge expected in the circumstances.

For Southend it was a must-win in what now looks like a vain bid to beat the drop. They began brightly enough but Barnes’ goal deflated them and they played as if resigned to their fate.

Jean-Francois Christophe should have headed them level from a free-kick in the first half and Francis Laurent clipped another good chance just wide in the second half after dispossessing Painter.

The margin of victory would have been flattering if Barnes’ stab into the roof of the net in stoppage time had not been ruled out for offside.

The result allows Poyet to start resolving the futures this week of the out-of-contract multitude but, with several teams below Albion also winning, he is still not taking safety for granted until it becomes a mathematical certainty.

Albion (4-1-2-3): Brezovan; Calderon (Hoyte 77), Elphick, El-Abd, Painter; Arismendi (Navarro 46), Bennett, Crofts, Hendrie (Dicker 65); Barnes, Murray.

Subs not used: Walker, Carole, Virgo, Holroyd.

Goal: Barnes (15).

Red cards: None.

Yellow card: Crofts (19) foul.

Southend United (4-4-2): Mildenhall; Francis, Baldwin, Mvoto, Herd; Grant, Christophe (Crawford 63), McCormack, Moussa; Vernon (Paterson 73), Laurent.

Subs not used: Malone, Barrett, Sankofa, Jack, O'Keefe.

Goals: None.

Red cards: None.

Yellow card: Grant (90) dissent.