Dean Wilkins passed his first test as Albion's manager-in-waiting with his decision-making in the heat of battle.

Wilkins has an opportunity to present an irresistible case to chairman Dick Knight.

The Seagulls have six more matches to cram in by the end of a hectic month and Wilkins will have until then at least to prove he is the right choice to succeed Mark McGhee, unless results go badly wrong for him.

He could well be appointed permanently prior to that, of course, if results continue to go right.

A winning start without red-carded captain Richard Carpenter for the best part of an hour is a pretty good opening statement.

More impressive than victory over a woeful Millwall, though, was the way Wilkins reacted to problems which arose during the match.

The biggest was the dismissal of Carpenter in the 33rd minute for a reckless, two-footed tackle on Millwall's Filipe Morais.

Wilkins was already amending his game plan as Carpenter suffered his inevitable fate.

Dean Cox, whose 88th minute free-kick was deflected into his own net by Marvin Elliott, said: "As soon as it happened Deano got us into a tight three (in midfield) and we played like that for the rest of the first half and whole of the second so it was pretty easy."

It was made easier by Millwall's inept attempts to break Albion down and the manner in which Wilkins' players carried out his instructions.

"When you go down to ten men, if you get one player not functioning in that unit then it can cost you dearly," he said.

"It was just a case of getting the organisation spot-on at half-time. Everyone carried out their jobs fantastically."

Well, almost everyone. Paul Reid, operating in midfield, was replaced by Tommy Fraser midway through the second half.

Taking off a much more experienced player to give a youngster his first taste of first team action when you are down to ten men at an intimidating place like The Den with the outcome in the balance was a big call.

Wilkins explained: "We asked Paul to do a specific job. He did it well to a degree but I pre-warned Tom at half-time, because there was something that happened in the first half that I wanted Paul to do slightly better.

"I felt it carried on and I had no hesitation in putting on Tom. The younger players have worked with me for a long time. They understand the way I work.

"They understand how important it is to be organised and disciplined. I went with my instincts and changed it."

Wilkins' gut feeling was vindicated when Fraser, more defence-minded than Reid, shrugged off a booking to nod a goalbound header by Zak Whitebread from a corner off the line.

Wilkins showed it is not one-way traffic as far as the kids are concerned by removing Sam Rents midway through his full debut and bringing on Kerry Mayo.

The rookie leftback was getting caught out in the first half by diagonal balls in behind him for Neal Ardley to run onto.

Ardley was, somewhat surprisingly, taken off by Millwall's already under-fire new manager Nigel Spackman before he had much of a chance to test Mayo.

It was some time after that, the 68th minute in fact, when Michel Kuipers made his first serious save, diving to hold a header by home skipper Derek McInnes from another corner.

Kuipers got the nod over Wayne Henderson, who would have been recalled if McGhee had still been in charge.

Wilkins said: "My opinion was that Michel had the shirt and did well in the shirt at Bristol City. I've told the players I'll be honest with them and explain every decision, because there is a reason behind every decision. Wayne took it okay. He was fine."

Kuipers' counterpart Chris Day had little to do as well. Gary Hart, who also cleared a shot from Elliott off the line in the second half, worked hard with Alex Revell without reward.

Albion occasionally looked threatening on the counter-attack after the break, despite their numerical disadvantage, and it was not altogether a surprise when Cox's inswinging free-kick was diverted into his own net at the near post by Elliott as he stretched.

The euphoric mood of Albion's travelling army was in stark contrast to the spiteful home fans filing out of the ground at the final whistle.

A steward was hurt in a scuffle as they angrily digested a first home defeat of the season and second blank sheet in succession.

Long after the finish, once the Millwall players had re-emerged to warm down, an agitated onlooker in an executive box shouted: "Why don't you have shot now, there's no one in goal."

You got the feeling even then they would have missed. It was a day to forget for the opposition, a day to remember for Wilkins and all but one of his players.

ALBION (4-4-2): Michel Kuipers (GK), Adam El-Abd (RB), Georges Santos (CB), Joel Lynch (CB), Sam Rents (LB), Paul Reid (RM), Richard Carpenter (CM), Dean Hammond (CM), Dean Cox (LM), Alex Revell (CF), Gary Hart (CF). Subs: Tommy Fraser (for Reid 60), Kerry Mayo (for Rents 45), Wayne Henderson, Alex Frutos, Jake Robinson.

Milwall (4-4-2): Chris Day (GK), Danny Senda (RB), Richard Shaw (CB), Paul Robinson (CB), Zak Whitbread (LB), Derek McInnes (CM), Marvin Elliott (CM), Neal Ardley (RM), Filipe Morais (LM), Kevin Braniff (CF), Marvin Williams (CF).

Subs: Darren Byfield (for Ardley 54), Poul Hubertz (for Braniff 65), Lenny Pidgeley, Alan Dunne, Maurice Ross.