Pascal Gross says nothing has changed for Albion – despite losing a star defender.

The German midfielder scored twice on the opening day as the Seagulls beat Manchester United 2-1 at Old Trafford.

Albion started the game with just three recognised specialist defenders in Joel Veltman, Lewis Dunk and Adam Webster after Marc Cucurella joined Chelsea.

But Gross said he did not really see things that way.

He told The Argus: “We haven’t changed much, not really. A little bit maybe.

“We try to just train every day. The gaffer gives us a lot of solutions and ideas which we work on every day.

“It doesn’t feel we only have three defenders.

“We have a lot of players who can do both. Alexis Mac Allister, Moises Caicedo, Solly March defensively very good.

“Even Leandro Trossard can go both ways.

“I see us and myself as a defender and an attacker.

“If the opponent has the ball, Danny Welbeck is our first defender.

“If we have the ball, Robert Sanchez is our first attacker.

“That’s how we see football.”

Adam Webster praised the work of midfielders in supporting the more recognised defenders.

He said: “The gaffer is extremely brave in how we play and, as players, we take that on as well.

“It’s not just us. The midfielders – Moises, Pascal, Alexis – they do a lot of work for us.

“They covered some distance for us and really tracked their runners.

“It allows us to be aggressive in those one-v-one zones when we are three against three at the back.”

Webster added: “We finished last season so strongly.

“We lost a couple of players but the squad and the togetherness we have got here is brilliant and just shows the team spirit we have.

“Everyone is fighting for each other, everyone has come in and slotted straight away. It is a great group to be a part of.

“It is a great start. As cliched as it sounds, we have just got to take each game as it comes. We want to try and improve every year and if we can do that it will be great.”