Albion keeper Casper Ankergren saved his place with a clean sheet against Hull.

Boss Gus Poyet has admitted his Danish No. 1 was under threat for Saturday night’s goalless draw against Hull at The Amex.

Ankergren made smart saves in the second half from Aaron Mclean and Robbie Brady to help the Seagulls back up to fifth in the Championship and preserve his spot for tomorrow night’s trip to Millwall.

Poyet has revealed Matt Sparrow is also a certain starter again after returning in midfield against Hull but much of the focus was on Ankergren following the nine goals Albion leaked in their previous three matches.

Poyet said: “I think it was his best game in the last month, no doubt, but he needed it.

“Sometimes managers look at different things to sort out the three goals we conceded in the last three games. Of course, most of the people look first and most to the goalkeeper. We decided to go with Casper. It crossed my mind to drop seven or eight players. He was one of them.

“Everybody knew that. We’ve talked a lot in the last two weeks. We trained well and did plenty of things we needed to do but we had good chats with the whole squad.

“Players like Casper, Matt Sparrow and Ash (Ashley Barnes) knew how important it was for them to go and perform.

“You need a goalkeeper to save you every now and then and you need a player with the energy of Matt Sparrow that we were missing to give you some tackles and running.

“I am pleased for them as well. I know how difficult it is for them to listen to the manager and start thinking about whether they are going to play or not.

“That’s what has happened with Matt. He wasn’t starting and now he’s in and now he is playing Tuesday for sure.”

Poyet is not bothered that Albion have gone six games without a win including the Carling Cup exit against Liverpool.

He said: “I think we are okay, we are realistic. We are not thinking about the run of games, because every single person I’ve met in England that watched us against Liverpool and Leeds thinks we are a very, very good team.

“Then we lost two and conceded nine in three. People look at the table everywhere in the world. We are still there and it is up to us to keep winning points.

“We’ve taken two from 15 and we are fifth, which shows how tight this division is. The next one is Millwall and I need to pick the right team, make decisions and make sure we are fresh.”

* In tomorrow's Argus Ankergren on his scary trip to Millwall with Leeds.