Robert Sanchez has exceeded his own expectations in his debut season in the Premier League

Last season the 23-year-old was playing in League One for Rochdale, but after Seagulls head coach Graham Potter decided not to loan out the keeper again in the summer, his career has progressed quickly.

Sanchez has taken over as No.1 from Australian international Maty Ryan, who ended up joining Arsenal on loan for the rest of the season.

His form for Albion has seen him called up to the Spanish national team for the first time in the most recent international break, being picked over Chelsea’s Kepa Arrizabalaga.

Since coming into the side Sanchez has kept ten clean sheets in his 23 appearances for the Seagulls, of which nine have come in his last 15 matches.

But the Spanish international has surprised himself by how well he has performed in the top flight so far this season.

He said: “I am really happy with it (my season so far).

“Since I started playing in goal it was all about going game-by-game and doing the best I could.

“But to be honest it has been even better than I expected, and I am really happy about that.

“Now I need to keep going and playing at this level.”

But with four games left to play, what is Sanchez targeting to achieve in the remainder of the campaign.

He said: “I want to try and keep as many clean sheets as possible, maintain the level that I am playing at and stay safe and take it game-by-game.”

Confidence is high for Albion at the back after they kept their 12th clean sheet of the season, with only Manchester United (13), Aston Villa (14), Manchester City and Chelsea (both 18) having kept more in the league.

That confidence was evident in the victory over Marcelo Bielsa’s side at the Amex, with Ben White taking the ball from the edge of his own box and running 80 or 90 yards before running out of pitch to work with.

Skipper Lewis Dunk typified the high spirits of the Seagulls as he calmly chested a cross into the arms of Sanchez.

But Albion’s No.1 admits the only area they have struggled with is putting the ball in the back of the net.

He said: “We are always there for each other and the confidence is always high because we know we are a really good team.

“In defence, we are doing well and we just feel as a team we have been a bit unlucky in terms of scoring goals, but we are always confident.”

Despite Albion’s trouble in front of goal they looked to have partly solved their problems through Danny Welbeck.

The 30-year-old striker scored his fifth goal for the Seagulls, with an exquisite touch and finish to double their lead at the Amex.

But Sanchez revealed Welbeck shows that quality in training every day.

He said: “He is top draw and is always training to the best of his ability, working hard and keeps improving every day.”

The win on Saturday took Potter’s men to 14th in the table and on to 37 points for the season.

That means they are now ten points clear of Fulham in 18th with a superior goal difference after they lost 2-0 to Chelsea on Saturday.

However, Sanchez knows that they cannot afford to put their feet up in their final four games of the campaign, starting away to Wolves on Sunday.

He said: “Well obviously we are not going to relax fully.

“But these three points are going to be important for us and allow us to be more comfortable going into our last four games of the season.”

But Sanchez knows that the pressure is on the sides below them after their win over Leeds.

He said: “We now we are ten points clear, so they are now going to have to push even harder if they want to get the results to stay up.”