Mark McGhee believes Albion are in safe hands in the Championship with new loan keeper Wayne Henderson.

McGhee is still interested in bringing Alan Blayney back to the Seagulls permanently from Southampton but the manager was delighted with Aston Villa youngster Henderson in Saturday's opening 1-1 draw at Derby.

"Wayne did everything asked of him," McGhee said. "His kicking was fantastic and really took the pressure off us.

"We'll keep tabs on the Blayney situation but Wayne showed why we wanted him. I thought he was excellent, composed and sharp. I was pleased with his performance, so there are no great worries in goal at the moment."

McGhee also praised Manchester United loanee Paul McShane, the young centre half who, like Henderson, signed on Friday and will make his home debut against Reading tomorrow night.

"Paul did not put a foot wrong," McGhee said. "He headed it and did what we knew he could do by nipping in to win the ball. He showed composure at times and was part of an all-round team performance.

"I thought we were the better team. Some of our play was excellent. The least we deserved was a point and we're happy with that."

Colin Kazim-Richards also impressed on his Albion debut, together with Jason Dodd, and will lead the attack again against Reading with Leon Knight.

McGhee used Knight in a slightly withdrawn role at Derby in the absence of striker Federico Turienzo. A calf injury in training ruled out the Argentinian target man and the manager admitted: "I think we will be pushing it to get him fit for Tuesday, considering as well that he hasn't trained.

"That would be asking for trouble. We managed at Derby with Colin and Leon and that will probably be the situation on Tuesday night."

Dean Hammond, Albion's early goalscorer at Derby with a header, says the Seagulls' encouraging display on the opening day has given them a lot of confidence for the visit of Steve Coppell's team.

"Derby are a good side. They were in the play-offs, they had a big crowd for their new manager's first game and we have come away with a point and maybe deserved to win."