Leon Knight revealed today how a heated exchange with Albion manager Mark McGhee inspired him to hit peak form again.

McGhee rounded on his leading scorer for his performance in the 2-1 defeat at Sheffield Wednesday nine days ago.

Knight responded with his 25th goal of the season in Saturday's 2-0 home win against Hartlepool, which keeps alive the Seagulls' hopes of snatching the second automatic promotion spot.

"We had words last week," Knight said. "It was up to me to bounce back, to show him it can be done and also prove that to myself, so it helped in a way.

"In the changing room afterwards he told me I came up with the right answer, which was nice to hear from him. You get criticised in football, you have just got to prove yourself and prove them wrong."

McGhee feared a red card for goalkeeper Ben Roberts when he conceded a second-half penalty by bringing down Adam Boyd with the score 0-0.

Roberts escaped with a booking against his old club and then made a crucial save from Gavin Strachan's spot-kick.

"You always fear in that situation," McGhee said. "Although there were a lot of defenders scurrying back I don't know that there was anyone clearly behind Ben, so in a sense I think we can count ourselves fortunate Ben wasn't sent-off."

Knight, booked for the ninth time this season for an over-exuberant celebration of his goal, and Richard Carpenter both need to steer clear of cautions at Blackpool on Saturday to avoid two-match bans.

Albion are five points behind Bristol City and QPR, who play their game in hand at Tranmere tomorrow.