Albion must achieve something they have managed only twice all season to give their Championship survival crawl a shot in the arm.

They face Birmingham at the Amex on Saturday and Leeds at home three days later.

Chris Hughton will be hoping for a minimum of four points against one of his former clubs and the much-improved Yorkshiremen.

The inability to string results together has been a major problem, especially at home.

The Seagulls have only collected four points from successive games at the Amex on two occasions.

They beat Bolton and drew with Charlton back in August, then had to wait until early November for a second home win over Wigan in-between draws against Rotherham and Blackburn.

It could be a good time to play Birmingham after their game against Middlesbrough last night.

It could be a bad time to play Leeds, who are also at Middlesbrough on Saturday for an early kick-off.

They have won four of their last five matches and lost just one of their last seven to give themselves breathing space.

Or maybe not. The visit of Leeds could be good for two reasons.

They have demonstrated the benefit of back-to-back victories. Beating Reading and Millwall has catapulted them up the table from 20th to 12th.

The last time Albion completed consecutive home league wins was when Leeds came calling also on a Tuesday night last February.

They were defeated 1-0, just as Doncaster had been three days earlier.

Is it asking too much for a repeat? That really would ease the relegation worries.