Albion's away day blues are threatening to destroy their challenge for an immediate return to Division One.

Another narrow defeat on the road has cost them valuable ground in the race for automatic promotion.

The Seagulls have now lost away in the League by the odd goal five times and they have the worst travelling record of any of the top teams.

Manager Mark McGhee said: "We are not far away. We are a hard team to beat now and even when we are losing we are losing narrowly.

"We have somehow got to bridge the difference between that and getting a draw or even winning."

The Seagulls' failure to secure at least a share of the spoils was all the more frustrating when you take into account Swindon's shaky home form.

Town, admittedly under-achieving considering the talent at Andy King's disposal, had won only one of their previous six outings at the County Ground and that against hapless Wycombe.

The top two, QPR and Plymouth, left Wiltshire with a point and all three respectively prior to Albion's arrival.

Home victories for the pace-setting pair yesterday means the Seagulls are seven points adrift of them, although they will have an opportunity to close the gap when they play them both next month.

McGhee made a brave choice in leaving Leon Knight out of the starting line-up.

Brave because if Knight had been recalled after a one-match suspension and Albion had lost nobody would have batted an eyelid.

Instead, McGhee's decision to keep faith with John Piercy up front following his two goals against Wycombe on Boxing Day is sure to be a talking point among supporters after this result.

McGhee revealed: "Leon's preparation had been a bit interrupted by one or two things. John deserved to stay in the team and I thought he justified that by playing very well."

Knight had no complaints either. "I expected not to start," he said. "We won 4-0 on Friday so you cannot just expect to come straight back in, no matter who you are. I respect the gaffer's decision."

Knight's non-appearance in a first half in which Albion had the edge without either side creating much in front of goal had no bearing on the final outcome, although he made an impact as soon as he came on for the second half at Chris McPhee's expense.

He immediately shot inches wide from 20 yards then stretched to steer in a cross from Kerry Mayo on the volley, only for the effort to be ruled out by a narrow offside verdict.

Knight would not be denied. Within ten minutes of his introduction, he hauled the Seagulls level, rolling in his 18th of the season with the outside of his right foot after Guy Butters headed on a Danny Cullip free-kick.

That cancelled out Sam Parkin's 13th of the season on the stroke of half-time, which was sloppily conceded.

Knight's former Chelsea front partner picked his spot from ten yards when Stefani Miglioranzi's header from an Andy Gurney free-kick found him in space.

Miglioranzi hit the winner from another set-piece midway through the second half. The Brazilian midfielder thumped the ball in at the far post after Andrew Nicholas flicked on a Brian Howard corner.

Miglioranzi, formerly with Portsmouth, had crashed a close- range drive against the underside of the crossbar seconds earlier following an unconvincing punch by Ross Flitney, making his away debut.

The young keeper on loan from Fulham had a mixed afternoon. His distribution was indifferent, but his handling was generally sound and he made a fine diving save late on from Howard's shot before the flag went up for offside.

Swindon should have extended their lead in the closing stages as Albion became stretched in search of a second equaliser.

Parkin missed a sitter, but a more emphatic winning margin would have flattered the home side.

Piercy, harshly booked for diving in the first half and replaced by Zesh Rehman with 20 minutes left, could now get an extended run in what he regards as his best position on the left side of midfield.

Nathan Jones' straight red card in stoppage time for a tackle on Matt Hewlett will sideline the Welshman for four games following his dismissal in similar circumstances in the Worthington Cup at Bristol Rovers in August.

It was a shame for Jones because he was arguably Albion's best performer.

His contribution in the first half was particularly vibrant.

McGhee said: "I was disappointed in the goals, particularly the first goal. We switched off and that typified the way we defended a little bit in the first half.

"We were a little bit casual as a team at times.

"I didn't think we played badly. We competed and created enough opportunities, but we are not scoring enough goals.

"As much as you blame the fact we lost a couple of bad goals from set-pieces, we need to score more. We don't turn possession into chances enough."

Swindon manager Andy King watched a different game to me. "I think we totally outplayed a very good side," he claimed with scant justification. "We should have won 5-1 in the end on chances."

Albion now have a break to get the defeat out of their system before a crucial sequence of matches in January which will determine whether automatic promotion is still viable.

  • ALBION (4-4-2): Flitney (gk 6); Watson (rb) 7, Mayo (lb) 7, Cullip (cd) 7, Hart (rm) 7, Yeates (cm) 7, Carpenter (cm) 7, Butters (cd) 8, Jones (lm) 7, Piercy (f) 7, McPhee (f) 6. Subs: Pethick, Oatway, Knight (7) for McPhee (withdrawn 46), Keeley, Rehman for Piercy (withdrawn 70).
  • Scorer: Knight (55).
  • Sent Off: Jones (90, serious foul play).
  • Bookings: Piercy (19, foul), Knight (56, unsporting behaviour), Rehman (76, foul).
  • SWINDON: (4-4-2): Evans; Gurney, Igoe, Mooney, Parkin, Miglioranzi, Nicholas, Howard, Reeves, Ifil, Hewlett. Subs: Griemink, Smith, Duke, Stevenson, Fallon.
  • Scorers: Parkin (45), Miglioranzi (66).
  • Booking: Gurney 74.
  • Half-Time: Swindon 1 Albion 0.
  • Attendance: 9,269.
  • Fan's view: Mike Ward (Brighton) Given the upbeat mood after Boxing Day, this was a crushing disappointment.

Maybe the Wycombe result had left us a little over-optimistic, but we showed enough grit and flair against Swindon to suggest we could sustain the momentum from that performance. Frustratingly, we just couldn't capitalise on those strengths in front of goal.

Leon's second-half equaliser briefly gave us hope (keeping him on the bench for the first half seemed to have left him with a point to prove), but in the end it was another of those afternoons - our fate sealed by a couple of fatal defensive lapses.

Even so, let's go into 2004 in a positive frame of mind. This Albion side is capable of a play-off spot.