Albion are already looking a different team, and not just because of their new maroon away kit and the introduction of several new players.

Of course, we should not get carried away by a draw on the opening day, albeit against a team that reached the play-offs last season.

It was, more than the result, the manner in which it was achieved which offered genuine hope that the Seagulls will not be marooned near the bottom of the table as the bookmakers seem to think they will be.

Albion, by Mark McGhee's own admission, were given a footballing lesson by Derby at Pride Park nine months ago. This time, in pure footballing terms, they gave as good as they got.

In fact, it was the home side who were much more direct, although perhaps we should not be surprised by that considering their new boss Phil Brown used to be Sam Allardyce's assistant at Bolton.

This was not the Albion side which admirably chiselled out away results in backs-to-the-wall fashion so often last season. This was McGhee's developing version, a team with the composure and confidence to pass the ball.

"We have talked about the necessity to play more football since we were promoted and we have gradually got better at it," McGhee said. "We played some great stuff. It's very important to me that a style emerges that is consistent.

"We won't always be great, but consistency is the template."

The way he played you would have thought Paul McShane had been part of the process for the past 15 months, not somebody who trained with his new team-mates for the first time on Friday.

The Manchester United and Republic of Ireland under-19 defender, as you might expect, has obviously been well schooled at Old Trafford. Good in the air for his size and accomplished in possession, McShane fitted in snugly alongside the dependable Guy Butters.

Together they did well to quell the lofty threat posed by Derby's Polish international targetman Grzegorz Rasiak.

What of the other newcomers? Goalkeeper Wayne Henderson had no chance with Paul Peschisolido's equaliser for Derby. His game, especially his handling, grew in confidence as the game wore on.

Former Southampton stalwart Jason Dodd slotted in comfortably at rightback and laid on Dean Hammond's early opening goal.

"You forget he's arrived," McGhee said. "You feel as if he has been here forever. I thought he was fantastic."

And then there is Colin-Kazim Richards. His performance merely confirmed the impression that he could be a real find.

Kazim-Richards took the two steps up from League Two with Bury in his stride. Playing alone up front, he troubled the Derby defence throughout with his pace and strength.

"I can't single Colin out," said McGhee. "Everyone gave everything but it gelled as well. The football was the thing that pleased me.

"It showed at the end of last season, every single point counts in this division for us and to start with a point away from home is an improvement on last season (when Albion lost 3-2 at Reading)."

Albion almost grabbed all three points when the hard-working Leon Knight, operating successfully behind Kazim-Richards to nullify Derby's Spanish playmaker Inigo Idiakez, hit the foot of a post in the closing stages with a free-kick from 25 yards.

The free-kick should have reduced Derby to ten men. Michael Johnson was the last defender when he bundled into Kazim-Richards, a blatant infringement missed by replacement referee Martin Harris but spotted by his assistant.

Harris, the fourth official had taken over in the middle from the 51st minute, when a leg injury forced Brian Curson off. He compounded his mistake in missing Johnson's challenge when, having consulted the assistant, Harris shaped as if to show a card to Johnson's bemused fellow central defender Andrew Davies before putting it back in his pocket.

You would not want to be in an identity parade with Harris as the accuser. Davies is tall and blonde, Johnson short and black!

McGhee called it "ludicrous", Kazim-Richards insisted: "I was through and if I hadn't been fouled I would have scored. He (Harris) got the wrong man and then he didn't have the bottle to do anything."

McGhee reckons Hammond, with his aerial prowess, can score ten goals this season. The lanky midfielder gave Albion a dream start by outjumping Derby's vulnerable keeper Lee Camp to head in Dodd's free-kick.

Peschisolido levelled five minutes later with an unstoppable volley from ten yards following a long throw by Idiakez. Johnson also headed against the top of the bar in the second half and Morten Bisgaard nodded over a gaping goal but Albion were well worth parity.

Kazim-Richards said: "I had confidence anyway but now the team, not just me, knows what we can achieve and how we can play.

"A lot of people are writing us off. I'm not saying we will win the League but we are second favourites to go down. I don't think we are going to do that."