Albion 4 Hartlepool 1.

IF I was Tony Pulis I would be a little bit concerned about the goal danger posed to his Stoke side by Albion’s triple strike force.

The way Glenn Murray, Ashley Barnes and Chris Wood are performing together suggests they could be a handful even for Premier League defenders in the last 16 of the FA Cup.

Gus Poyet played the threatening threesome all at once for the first time at Exeter early last month, when Barnes came off the bench with Albion behind. They turned a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 victory and have not looked back.

The trio proved too much for Championship sides Portsmouth and Watford in the third and fourth rounds of the Cup.

Poyet has started them from the kick-off in League One as well in the last two matches. The result? Two comprehensive victories, with four goals scored in each.

Stoke will undoubtedly make life a lot tougher for them than Bristol Rovers and hapless Hartlepool but Murray, Barnes and Wood have developed a good understanding.

The 24 minutes Wood lasted before limping off with a foot injury was ample time for the sturdy young Kiwi and Murray to find the net again and put Albion firmly in charge.

It is a shame Poyet will not have Cup-tied replacement Craig Noone up his sleeve as a lively goalscoring substitute on Saturday, following his second goal from the bench in consecutive home games.

Wood is, however, expected to be okay for the trip to the Potteries, which will certainly enhance the Seagulls chances of causing an upset.

Murray, back on top of the scoring chart after a goal in each half, said: “It’s gone well for all three of us. We work off each other. If one drops in then the other two move. I think that’s what really messes defences up. It’s a pleasure to play in.

“The three of us have pushed him (Poyet) into that position. It was unfortunate that Woodsy had to come off injured but I think we are all playing quite well and we are making it hard for the gaffer to drop one of us.”

Actually, it is the impressive form of Barnes, initially the odd striker out, which has forced Poyet’s hand. He was excellent once more and unselfishly set up Murray’s first goal before Poyet sensibly withdrew him in the second half with the game won, shortly after he had been harshly booked.

Murray now has 14 for the season, two more than Barnes. Murray might already have reached Poyet’s 21-goal target for him, based on chances just against Hartlepool, yet alone the rest of the campaign.

Poyet was only exaggerating slightly when remarking: “He could have had seven or eight” before pausing to add: “I’m happy for him. We are trying to get our strikers to score 20 plus goals and Glenn is one of those because he has never scored 20 plus goals.

“The game should have been over by half-time. If you don’t put the ball in the net when you have clear and easy chances then you don’t know what is going to happen. I am more pleased with the first 20 minutes of the second half when we went and finished the game.”

Mick Wadsworth, Hartlepool’s experienced manager, expected a backlash from Albion after their 3-1 defeat in the North East in November.

He thought it would be “suicide” to make the game open, so opted for a midfield diamond to combat the influence of Elliott Bennett and Liam Bridcutt. Hopeless defending assured an alternative route to a painful death.

The visitors were criminally slack when Bennett worked a short corner routine with Gary Dicker. Wood pulled away into space to convert the Irishman’s inviting cross.

Hartlepool were all too easily undone again five minutes later. They looked in vain for an offside flag as Gordon Greer released Barnes, who squared to give Murray a simple tap-in.

Between then and half-time Murray had an angled drive touched onto the far post by Scott Flinders, headed just wide from a Bennett cross and was foiled again by the former Albion loan keeper in a one-on-one.

Some of the Seagulls’ first-half play was a slick delight but 2-0 can be a dangerous lead. Noone obliterated Hartlepool’s hopes of making a game of it soon after the break with a left-foot volley after a Barnes shot looped off a defender into his path.

A slide-rule pass from Dicker put Murray through to slot the fourth, with more than a third of the match still remaining. Albion played within themselves after that, although Barnes, Murray and Noone all had further opportunities to add to the score.

The only blemish was the failure to keep a clean sheet. A free-kick flicked off an Albion head for the prolific Antony Sweeney to tuck in from close range.

Set pieces will have to be defended better than that at Stoke but the Seagulls are back on Poyet’s two-points per game target and have now plundered 17 goals in five straight home wins.

That had the manager jokingly suggesting it will almost be a shame to leave Withdean, especially as the game was sold out to home supporters by Friday.

Is promotion now Albion’s to throw away? Poyet admitted: “We are getting close to that point. If we maintain our consistency, don’t panic and don’t get unlucky with injuries and decisions then yes, it’s up to us now.”

When Albion return to league action at home to Plymouth a week tomorrow they could be off the top of the table for the first time since September.

That will be the case if Bournemouth take four points from their visit to Bristol Rovers tomorrow night and at home to Huddersfield on Saturday but they will have played four matches more. More importantly, Albion are six points clear of Huddersfield in third with a game in hand and eight ahead of Southampton in fourth.

Poyet is unhappy about the disparity with Bournemouth in games played, although as he also pointed out: “We cannot complain. We’re in a great position.” Perhaps in an even greater one this time next week, with a hat-trick of strikers helping them to a place in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup for only the third time in the club’s history.

Albion (4-2-1-3): Ankergren; Calderon, Greer, El-Abd, Painter; Bridcutt, Dicker; Bennett (Holroyd 84); Wood (Noone 24), Murray, Barnes (Battipiedi 68). Subs not used: Brezovan, Elphick, Sandaza, Taricco.

Goals: Wood (12), Murray (17), (56), Noone (53).

Red cards: None.

Yellow card: Barnes (66) kicking ball away.

Hartlepool (4-1-2-1-2): Flinders; Haslam, Collins, Hartley, Horwood (McSweeney 46); P. Murray (Humphreys 62); Gamble, Liddle; Sweeney; Larkin (Brown 46), Monkhouse. Subs not used: Boyd, Yantorno, Rafferty, Donaldson. Goal: Sweeney (63).

Red cards: None.

Yellow card: Hartley (67) foul.