Albion's horror start to the season continued with a timid defeat.

Fans were expecting Micky Adams' men to take the Third Division by storm.

Instead they have already been beaten three times in four matches, an unbeaten home League record stretching back to January has been jolted and they have only four teams below them.

The Seagulls seem incapable at the moment of coping with the label of promotion fancies. A downbeat Adams said: "Part of the reason we went on a good run at the end of last season was that the expectancy had gone. Now it's a new ball game.

"You have got to live with it or it kills you. At the moment it is killing us. If you are not strong enough mentally you crumble."

Adams has been in the game long enough to know his job will be on the line if results don't pick up pretty quickly.

Gary Hart and Kerry Mayo are now the only established first team players he inherited and Bobby Zamora's move from Bristol Rovers made Albion by some margin the biggest summer spenders at their level.

Chairman Dick Knight will demand a return on that investment. Indeed, he is already on the record as saying a play-off place is the minimum requirement this season.

Adams' response to the mini-crisis is to show the kind of resolve he must now rely on from his players.

"I have a squad which is possibly the envy of the division in some managers' eyes," he said. "But they are letting themselves down.

"Everybody is bitterly disappointed, no-one more so than myself. I'm at a low ebb at the moment, but I will bounce back. I've seen managers crumble. I can assure you I'm not one of them. I won't hide away."

Adams reacted to the unfortunate defeat at Lincoln by restoring Darren Freeman to the attack in place of Scott Ramsay and giving Nathan Jones his full debut at leftback at the expense of Kerry Mayo.

Freeman, who this time next week will be preparing for double hernia surgery, was handed the central role he prefers, so Gary Hart stayed out on the right.

Albion, by no means as dominant as they were at Lincoln, still looked the likelier winners in the first half. Zamora was unlucky not to give them the lead in the 23rd minute. He beat Craig Hinton in the air to Paul Brooker's long ball before rattling the underside of the crossbar from 20 yards.

Hart and Brooker had shots efforts saved by Stuart Brock, deputising in the Kidderminster goal for the injured Tim Clarke, while Jones demonstrated his zest for getting forward with a wriggling run and shot just wide.

Kidderminster came with the same game plan employed to good effect in a 1-1 Worthington Cup draw at Walsall.

They packed midfield, left four-goal Stewart Hadley alone up front and depended on quick breakaways.

Jan Molby has built a team containing plenty of League experience with the likes of Barry Horne, captain Ian Clarkson and the talented Ian Bogie.

They kept possession well without penetrating in the first half, but that all changed seven minutes into the restart.

Brock's quick throw-out from Freeman's cross caught Jones upfield and released Tony Bird into space down the right. Danny Cullip failed to clip his wings with a covering tackle and the unmarked Ian Foster met the cross with a sweet right-foot finish from ten yards.

Sweet was the word for Foster. He was on Hereford's books when Albion relegated them three years ago.

Freeman started the second half back out on the right, with Hart partnering Zamora.

Midway through Freeman was swapping that position for the bench as Adams adopted the Barry Fry comeback route with a triple substitution.

Rod Thomas was the new right winger, Steve Melton replaced skipper Paul Rogers in midfield and the removal of Brooker saw Mayo introduced at leftback, with Jones pushed forward in front of him. Within three minutes of these sweeping changes the deficit doubled. Bogie's diagonal pass released Dean Bennett goal side of Paul Watson and clear through the inside left channel to slot past the continuously miskicking Mark Cartwright.

It was classic smash and grabb stuff to which Albion had no answer. It wasn't until the 70th minute that they had a decent attempt on goal from inside the Kidderminster penalty area, Cullip's header from a Watson free-kick clipping the top of the bar.

Charlie Oatway's stooping header was turned behind by Brock, but there was a disturbing lack of spirit once Bennett scored. They seemed resigned to their fate and you could hear a pin drop until the fans in a record Withdean crowd vented their anger at the finish.

"If I'd had 11 subs I would have used them," Adams said. "We did not have enough belief. We have got players affected by conceding goals and we are making stupid individual errors.

"We have got to pick ourselves up. If we we carry on like this then I am not the manager everybody thought I was."