Boss Chris Hughton hailed ten-man Albion's victory over arch-rivals Crystal as one of the proudest of his reign.

The Seagulls triumphed 3-1 at the Amex, scoring twice with ten men through substitutes Leon Balogun, with his first touch, and Florin Andone after Shane Duffy was sent-off.

Hughton said: "It was probably one of the proudest ones. We had to defend really well. I ended up being disappointed they got the penalty. I know they had a lot of the ball, I felt we deserved the clean sheet."

Andone (below front), on for the injured Glenn Murray, has now scored twice in as many games.

The Argus: Hughton said: "What I saw in Florin is a player who was desperate to score and do a good job for the team. He's had to wait a while, some of that down to my decisions and Glenn scoring goals.

"He came injured, too, and missed chunks of pre-season. He's desperate to play and contribute."

Duffy is suspended for the next three games away to Burnley on Saturday, at home to Chelsea and at Bournemouth after pressing his head into Patrick van Aanholt right in front of referee Kevin Friend.

Hughton said: "Shane will have to learn from it. He's an experienced player who should know better, but he will learn from it.

"I was more concerned with Balogun doing the right things in the opposition box, defending corners and free-kicks, but that was probably the most important goal (2-0).

"That made the gap that little bit bigger. Andone's was certainly the best goal, but Leon's was the most important."

Albion, after staying up with 40 points last season, now have 21 from 15 games and are up to tenth.

“Ultimately, it's always about how many points you've got," Hughton added. "What is the gap between you and the bottom three. That's all that matters.

"If you can have an improvement in form along the way, great. Our form has been a bit up and down, but we've played really well in the last two games. That's encouraging.”