Jason Steele wants Albion’s tough period to be the making of them as the season goes on.

The Seagulls are winless in six Premier League fixtures as the campaign pauses for international action.

At the same time, they have been picking up points from draws, despite their growing injury list.

They have also put their Europa League campaign firmly on course with two wins over Ajax.

Asked whether their current testing times could yet be the making of them as the season develops, the Seagulls goalkeeper said: “I think so.

“It felt like we lost the (Sheffield United) game because of how dominant we were.

“But, equally we go down to ten men, barring the goal we defended really well and stayed in the game.

“It’s football, nothing is perfect. We have got to dig in, stick together and keep ploughing forward.”

Head coach Roberto De Zerbi has been rotating players and giving newer additions time to settle into the team unit. Steele said: “It’s not easy. We have got a young squad, we are having injuries and we are playing every three days.

“We have to rest, recover and regroup because we have got a really sticky set of fixtures afterwards.”

Albion return to action a week on Saturday with a trip to Nottingham Forest, who are unbeaten at the City Ground this season.

They then go to Athens to play AEK before the trip to Chelsea.

De Zerbi has revealed he expects injury concerns to have eased by the time they tackle those games.