Being captain of Albion means everything to Dean Hammond.

That is why he kissed the armband in celebration of his first goal of the season from open play last night.

The new skipper's heartfelt gesture was not for the cameras, though it made a great picture.

But captaincy was not the only reason why Hammond produced by far his best display of the season last night.

The way the Seagulls were set-up, in a 4-4-2 with one of the central midfielders getting forward when possible, suited him well.

He had his own clear identity on the pitch, be it as the holding midfielder in the first half or, more profitably, going forward in the second.

The reward was his first goal from open play in a season which had not really taken off for him until recently. Hammond was due to be rested by Mark McGhee at Millwall on Saturday.

Two things happened regarding the captaincy when Richard Carpenter booked himself an unwanted threeand- a-half game lay-off in his red-card moment in that game. First, Michel Kuipers picked up the disgarded armband.

Second, Hammond picked up the baton in terms of encouragement from central midfield.

The way he immediately starting encouraging his colleagues caught the eye of plenty of people, not least Dean Wilkins and Dean White.

It was as if he relished taking extra responsibility and kick starting his season. The Deans had their new skipper and his good work continued last night.

Hammond played in a line-up which was an adaptation of the 4-3-1-2 operated in some of the pre-season games.

It initially meant the new skipper reining in attacking ambitions and letting Dean Cox go ahead of him into a role behind the front two.

At times, notably when the Seagulls were defending, the set-up was still a linear 4-4-2 but that changed when Cox got a chance to spring forward.

When Paul Reid flashed a low ball across goal and Cox and the strikers looked to get on the end of it, Hammond, having initiated the attack, was 15 yards outside the box.

His passing was simple and accurate but when he got a bit more ambitious the way the formation was supposed to work was evident.

He thought about going back to Kerry Mayo, then instead threaded a short ball forward to Tommy Fraser who in turn found Dean Cox for a shot at the keeper. By which time Cox was a good 15 yards ahead of his fellow midfielder.

The switch between Cox and Hammond was quickly evident when the team came back out for the second half. Wilkins was disappointed it took 15 minutes for his second-half plan to be put into operation.

But the way Reid turned to the North Stand and celebrated when Hammond, now playing further forward with Cox holding, headed home his cross showed the satisfaction yoiou get when a plan pays off. There were still question marks.

It looked like Hammond could have been yard quicker to track back on the first Bournemouth goal and one wondered who was supposed to take charge when the second was nodded in. He was clearly furious after both Cherries goals.

But it was still an encouraging night for the man who has taken some stick from the crowd in previous games.

One man watching last night who reckons Hammond's central role makes him perfect captaincy material is former midfielder and title-winning skipper Paul Rogers.

Rogers makes no extravagant claims about how important a football captain is but reckons Hammond can embrace the role.

He said: "It doesn't happen like in rugby or cricket. If the manager sets you up as 4-4-2 you can't take it on yourself to go to three centre-halves.

"But you can make minor adjustments and push people around.

"You can seen everything from central midfield or centrehalf.

"All captains are different.

"Generally you gee people up where ever you are on the pitch. You are central in Dean's position and you can get things organised."

He added: "Recently he has probably not been playing as well as last season but he is a good honest lad.

"The 4-4-2 formation suits him much better watching him from my perspective.

"He seems to get the ball a lot more. He can get on the ball and control things a lot more."

And that was Rogers speaking before the game.

His words were backed up by actions. And so was the faith shown by White and Wilkins.