Albion happy to grind it out

3:20pm Sunday 14th October 2007

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It was by no means pretty but we could end up looking back at a dour victory for Albion in the Potteries as a more favourable turning point for the team Dean Wilkins is developing.

Last season's pre-Christmas defeat at Vale Park launched a decline which dragged the Seagulls down from the fringes of play-off contention towards a flirtation with relegation.

This time around they suggested they have not just a side but a squad which might be capable of sustaining a challenge.

We will have a better idea a few weeks down the line. Albion have played a lot of the strugglers so far and more demanding tests are on the horizon, notably this Saturday against Leeds without Dean Cox.

It will be interesting to see how they cope for the first time this season without the little playmaker but there are encouraging signs.

Guy Butters (calf) and Nicky Forster (thigh) were both missing again, not to mention Joel Lynch, Adam Hinshelwood and Paul Reid.

It is one thing to cope without the experience of Butters at the back and Forster up front for one and three-quarter home matches - against Bristol Rovers and Barnet - quite another to manage it away from Withdean.

Wilkins said of Forster: "He was close, but we didn't want to put ourselves in a situation where we involved him and risked him breaking down again.

"It was the same with Butts. He was prepared to give it a go but he did that with a similar problem last season and broke down.

"Adam El-Abd has to take a lot of credit and Tommy Elphick as well.

"It has not been easy for Adam. He has played in a number of positions, but he plays with total commitment and wears the shirt with pride.

"He got some vital headers in on crosses which came into the box and Tommy the same. I thought the back four defended well and, late on in the game, Michel Kuipers caught some crosses that relieved the pressure."

The emergence of Elphick this season has been a real bonus. Albion have conceded only ten goals in 12 games with him in the side (he was not involved on the first day at Crewe). They have also now kept four clean sheets in succession in League One.

Elphick's father Gary, an uncompromising centre-half himself during a career which included a stint a few miles down the road at Stoke, was in the crowd at Vale Park. How proud he must be to see his younger son following in his solid footsteps.

It is also worth noting that Albion have enjoyed four shut-outs in six matches since Matt Richards arrived from Ipswich and yet the former England under-21 international has, by general consensus, been below his best so far at left-back.

Now that Lynch is injured again his month on loan, which expires with the visit of Leeds, seems sure to be extended.

Wilkins said: "He has been at Ipswich for a long time and out of the frame for over a year so I think his confidence is lower than it would be normally, but I think with each game he has got better and better."

So much for the defence. The midfielders have been scoring regularly again this season and now, in the continuing absence of Forster, Jake Robinson and Alex Revell have each ended personal droughts in the last two games.

Revell's second-half winner was as scruffy and scrappy as the match itself. The Vale defence made a mess of a long ball from the ever-dependable Andrew Whing and Nathan Elder, brought on just a minute earlier for Bas Savage, won an aerial battle with Vale's stranded keeper Joe Anyon.

Revell slid in before a defender to slot his first goal since his only previous one this season at home to Northampton in August.

"I know strikers are judged on goalscoring," Revell said. "The gaffer told me I had been getting chances through good movement and good play and that one would go in.

"I would have taken one off my bum, face, nose, teeth, I don't care. Hopefully it will be the start of a run like I had before Christmas last year."

Elder twice went close to doubling the lead in the closing stages but a second goal would have flattered Albion. They were, for most of a poor match, as disappointing going forward as they were dogged at the back.

Vale could have been ahead by half-time. Leading marksman Luke Rodgers had a goal disallowed for an infringement on Kuipers and George O'Callaghan had to nod off the line against his old club from a David McGoldrick header.

In the same incident, Kuipers made his one serious save, diving to deflect a sweeping shot from Craig Rocastle, who was influential in midfield for the hosts in the opening 45 minutes.

Wilkins blunted Vale's impetus by re-introducing the diamond formation in the second half and they had to play the last 11 minutes with only ten men. Left-back Adam Eckersley, making his debut on loan from Manchester United, had already been booked for disputing a free-kick when he scythed down Jake Robinson as he made progress on the break through the centre circle. A second yellow card was inevitable.

Cox, who collected his costly fifth caution in the first half for a foul, can appreciate how Eckersley feels. He was also sent-off on his full debut for Albion on the opening day at Rotherham last season.

Another winger from the Seagulls' past, charismatic groundsman Frankie Howard, sadly passed away last week. Wilkins dedicated victory to "a really special man".

Dear old Frankie would have enjoyed the result and the lush Vale Park pitch. The performance? Maybe not, but successful seasons are built on gritty away wins like this.

ALBION (4-4-2): Michel Kuipers (GK), Andrew Whing (RB), Tommy Elphick (CB), Adam El-Abd (CB), Matt Richards (LB), Bas Savage (RM), George O'Callaghan (CM), Dean Hammond (CM), Dean Cox (LM), Alex Revell (CF), Jake Robinson (CF).

Subs: Sam Rents, Nathan Elder (for Savage 63), John Sullivan, David Martot (for Cox 70), Tommy Fraser (for O'Callaghan 75). YELLOW CARD: Cox 31 (foul).

RED CARDS: None.

GOAL: Revell 64 PORT VALE (3-5-2): Joe Anyon (GK), Justin Miller (RB), George Pilkington (CB), Ashley Westwood (CB), Adam Eckersley (LB), Shane Tudor (RM), Robin Hulbert (CM), Craig Rocastle (CM), Paul Edwards (LM), Luke Rodgers (CF), Dave McGoldrick (CF).

Subs: Marc Richards (McGoldrick 87), Danny Whitaker (Hulbert 57), Mark McGregor, Calum Willock, William Atkinson (Edwards 76). YELLOW CARD: Eckersley 62 (dissent).

RED CARDS: Eckersley 79 (foul).

GOALS: None.

Dean Cox is out of the Leeds game through suspension. How much will Albion miss him?