Albion 1, Leicester 1

Thank goodness Pascal Gross is back.

It will take a while for the creative German to get fully back up to speed following almost three months out.

His probing in the spaces between midfield and attack, evident when Albion were in charge in the first half, is needed to add another dimension to the attacking efforts, because they are falling short.

If it was not for generally sound defending, Glenn Murray's goal scoring and the refreshing switch from conceding to converting from set plays, they would be a lot lower.

The Seagulls remain comfortably placed in mid-table with breathing space over the bottom three, despite passing up a golden opportunity to record a third straight home win.

The only way is down if they perform as poorly as they did in the second half when a goal up and a man up, with the game there for the taking.

Albion's last three goals have all been from dead ball situations, all headers.

Murray's winner (below) and century for the club prior to that, against Wolves, came courtesy of his poaching instincts at the far post when Bruno skewed a cross-shot.

The Argus: At Newcastle, Beram Kayal's decisive touch originated from a corner.

The last time Albion opened up the opposition to score was when Murray pounced from Kayal's cross against West Ham.

Murray has done incredibly well to be on target as often as he has, considering he thrives on crosses and the wingers are not functioning effectively.

His luck seemed to be out against Leicester yet again when he was hurt early on.

He was injured at Leicester last season, then missed a penalty and the sort of chance he normally tucks away in his sleep in the Amex return.

It is not only for Albion that the Foxes have been hard for Murray to snare. He had gone seven games without scoring against them, his longest famine against any of the 92 clubs.

The jinx ended when he headed in Anthony Knockaert's corner with typical aplomb, a sixth goal in as many home matches a fitting way to mark the 100th Premier League appearance of his career.

It should have been the prelude to three points after the mindboggling stupidity of England newcomer James Maddison.

Booked for clipping Knockaert from behind, an outrageous attempt to win a penalty with a dive just three minutes later when Shane Duffy was nowhere near him was rightly punished.

There was no way Chris Kavanagh, who spotted Murray's handball in the wall against Spurs and is one of the best referees in the Premier League, was going to let him get away with it.

At least Maddison (below) later owned up and apologised.

The Argus: He can thank a combination of Albion's second half ineptitude and the galvanising impact of Jamie Vardy for limiting the damage.

The Seagulls failed miserably to make the numerical supremacy count. Apart from one brief spell, they shied away from keeping possession, working their way up the pitch and making use of the extra space.

Vardy's scurrying hunger from the bench, which he was initially restricted to by a groin injury, palpably lifted Leicester and their supporters.

Instead of controlling and managing the game as the situation demanded, Albion handed Leicester parity.

Jose Izquierdo, struggling for form, should have cleared before a cross caused discomfort at the far post and Kayal clumsily brought down substitute Kelechi Iheanacho (below).

The Argus: Vardy, as admirable as Murray in his journey from non-League to the top, made no mistake from the spot.

Kayal, his 100th appearance for Albion and rich vein of form blemished, admitted: "We have to control the game more, to know when to play at a high tempo and take the game down.

"We could not ask for more than 1-0 up against ten players. We need to control the game better.

"We started sloppily second half, every 50-50 went to them. We need to learn from it. It's another experience for us."

The last two games have been damaging, losing at Cardiff at the death with ten men and now what feels like a defeat from such an advantageous position against ten men.

Albion need a spark in their attacking endeavours. The hope is that Gross will provide it.