Albion are a team transformed. The likes of nine-man Walsall and lowly Hereford found them ponderous and predictable at Withdean.

Now Micky Adams has discovered a combination of pace, power and panache which, in the space of one-and-a-half games, has proved far too much for two of the early season promotion contenders in League One.

Since half-time last Tuesday, when they were 2-0 down, the resuscitated Seagulls have scored seven goals past Leicester and Millwall with only one in reply.

What a shame that the player at the heart of Albion’s dramatic turnaround will not be testing Derby tomorrow night.

Bradley Johnson has already made a huge difference since his loan move from Leeds just a week ago. Here at last is a box-to-box midfielder with real stature, strength and an eye for goal.

Johnson followed up his debut double against Leicester with his third in two games, and Albion’s third of the game, midway through the second half.

Adams appears to have found a real gem after the gamble of borrowing Robbie Savage, if not backfiring, did not have the desired impact.

“He’s a real powerhouse of a midfield player,” Adams said of Johnson. “Not only has he got great energy but his finish was terrific.

“We have missed goals from other areas this season. When you mainly rely on your two centre-forwards to get the goals, it puts a lot of pressure on the rest of the team.”

Mind you, when the centre-forwards are as good as the ageless Nicky Forster and the classy Glenn Murray, you know you can depend on a steady flow of goals.

Forster sees a specialist tomorrow, hoping for the all-clear to make his comeback from cartilage surgery in the FA Cup against Hartlepool on Saturday.

Murray made a quicker than expected return from the thigh injury he sustained at Peterborough and what a return.

Not only did he score twice after replacing the injured Adam Virgo inside half-an-hour, he also laid on the others in eyecatching fashion for Johnson and Dean Cox, who reproduced the form he has been showing Adams in training.

Murray only trained for the first time since his injury on Friday. Adams, with one eye on Derby’s visit, had “written this game off” for him and so had Murray when, on Friday afternoon, he was feeling “pretty sore”.

He felt more positive about his prospects when he woke up on Saturday morning. Adams said: “When somebody of his quality is prepared to sit on the bench and get on the pitch, if needed, I had to think it was a gamble worth taking.”

You can say that again. Murray opened the scoring just before the break with a smart turn and shot from a slide-rule pass by Matt Richards.

Albion deserved that for a crisp first-half performance, playing into driving rain and a blustery wind, but Millwall’s fast start to the second half was rewarded by Tresor Kandol’s curling effort in off the far post after a one-two with his partner Neil Harris.

The turning point against Leicester was the penalty they were not awarded when they were 2-0 up. The turning point this time was the penalty given to Albion by Premiership referee Alan Wiley, who spotted Tony Craig holding Joe Anyinsah’s shirt.

Murray’s penalty was saved with his legs by David Forde as he dived to his right but the rebound fell kindly for the simplest of tap-ins.

Murray, picking the ball up on halfway, impressively slid Johnson into the clear for a well-taken extension of the lead and even better followed with nine minutes left.

A raking crossfield pass from Richards released Murray close to the corner flag. He bided his time before delivering a pinpoint cross for Cox to crash into the roof of the net with a right-foot volley.

Adams said: “It was a tremendous all-round performance. Conditions were terrible but we adapted well to them, better than Millwall. The eleven I picked was the team that finished so well against Leicester.

“I think they deserved the opportunity to come out again and show what they can do. It’s an eleven that can’t lump it up the pitch, they have got to play football, and if we get Cox and (Kevin) Thornton and Bradley Johnson on the ball they can all pass and play.

“We has some great balls up to the front players, Adam Virgo initially and then Glenn Murray, and we got our rewards for it.

“The tempo at this stadium is very important to us and we didn’t get that right at the beginning of the season. Maybe we were playing the wrong type of football for the players we’ve got but certainly the new additions have given us a little bit of fresh impetus.”

The precociously talented Thornton is poised to have his loan stint from Coventry stretched and, with the arrival of the fleet-footed Stuart Fleetwood as well from Charlton, Albion now have pace and flair running through their ranks.

They are playing catch-up after their winless ten-match run in the league but Murray believes it is too early to dismiss their chances of automatic promotion, yet alone the play-offs.

“I haven’t even heard a Christmas song yet,” he joked. “I think anything is still achievable. “ ALBION (4-4-2) Sullivan; Whing, Elphick, Hawkins, Richards; Thornton, Thomson, Johnson, Cox; Anyinsah, Virgo. SUBS: Murray for Virgo (injured 28), Fleetwood for Thornton (withdrawn 81), Livermore for Johnson (injured 86), El-Abd, McLeod.

GOALS: Murray (45,57), Johnson (65), Cox (81).

YELLOW CARDS: Virgo (20) foul, Thornton (73) unsporting behaviour, Johnson (86) foul.

MILLWALL (4-4-2) Forde; Hackett, Robinson, Craig, Frampton; Grabban, Fuseini, Laird, Martin; Kandol, Harris. SUBS: Spiller for Laird (injured 51), Easter for Martin (withdrawn 73), Dunne, Grimes, Edwards.

GOAL Kandol (49).

YELLOW CARDS: Hackett (18) foul, Kandol (73) unsporting behaviour, Fuseini (86) foul.

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