Albion's first victory of the season evolved from a video vigil after midnight in Mark McGhee's office.

The manager and members of his backroom team drove from Withdean to the Falmer training ground to study until 1am last Wednesday morning TV footage of the embarrassing Carling Cup exit by Bristol Rovers a few hours earlier.

McGhee counted "something like 27 crosses and not one of them was met by a header." From that moment he was determined to play a big man up front against Preston.

Step forward Adam Virgo. While the relentless search for a robust frontrunner continues, McGhee decided to turn his powerful young rightback into a stop-gap striker.

The impact was instantaneous.

Virgo unsettled Preston's three formidable centre halves. He could have scored with a couple of first-half headers and lent physical support to Leon Knight as Albion chiselled out three welcome points.

McGhee said: "Playing a centre half up front isn't something I'd like to do regularly. It smacks a little bit of desperation but with two weeks after today until our next game, when we will have Chris McPhee back, we thought why not for a couple of games?

"Virgs was a physical presence, exactly what we have been looking for. Obviously he is not a centre forward and he did things a centre forward would have done differently, but equally he brought some of his centre half attributes to playing up front and that gave them a bit of a problem."

McGhee sees Virgo's long-term future in the centre of defence.

The versatile Brighton-born youngster doesn't mind where he plays, as long as he is in the team.

"I think the manager knows that," Virgo said. "I've played in four different positions under him now. I played in midfield at Grimsby last season, centre half at Blackpool and I've played at rightback.

"People may have seen it as a risk to put me up front, but he just told me to be a nuisance, challenge their back three, try to link up as much as I could with Leon and above all hold the ball up to get the back four and midfield pushing up a lot more.

"I felt I did alright. I had no pressure on me, that's why I enjoyed it so much."

The inclusion of Dean Hammond by the imaginative McGhee was aslo an eyebrow-raiser.

You would have got long odds on that before Saturday, much longer than the 40-1 on offer for Virgo to score the first goal before a plunge by punters in the know sent the price tumbling down to 12-1.

Hammond's previous appearance was in Martin Hinshelwood's last match as manager at Watford in October 2002.

He got his chance in the centre of midfield because Adam Hinshelwood was moved into Virgo's rightback role and, with Paul Reid ruled out by a suspected hernia, McGhee wanted to "put someone in there who could pass it."

Hammond's display improved his prospects of staying beyond his three-month contract which ends at the end of next month. His most important contribution was a sliding block inside his own box in the closing stages on Northern Ireland's record goalscorer David Healy.

A similar last-ditch challenge by Hinshelwood on the same player sealed the Seagulls' first clean sheet as defensive stability was enhanced by the return of Nathan Jones on the left in place of Albert Jarrett and the return of Danny Cullip to his commanding best.

Michel Kuipers deserved his shut-out for important saves with his legs in each half from Eddie Lewis and Richard Cresswell.

Darren Currie's deadly deadball delivery was responsible for Albion's 30th minute winner.

His viciously inswinging corner was headed into the roof of his own net by Marlon Broomes, standing close to the far post.

"I think we're all claiming it," said Currie. "Virgs reckons he got a touch, the ref gave an own goal and I'm trying hard to claim it but the most important thing is we won.

"In the changing room afterwards everyone was bubbly and having a laugh. We believed we would win and we have got to take that belief to Leicester.

"The new lads are starting to gel and I'm starting to come out of my shell a bit now. The defensive side of my game is the big question mark and that is why it has taken me until the age of 29 to get to this level.

"I am working on that and the gaffer and the other players are helping me so that I am not getting exposed as much as I have been in the past.

"The one thing I have never lacked is confidence in my own ability. When I look at the fixtures and see Leicester away and West Ham, where I started as a kid, it's a reward for all my hard work."

Defeat spelt the end of Craig Brown's spell in charge at Deepdale after the former Scotland manager left by mutual consent after meeting chairman Derek Shaw.

ALBION (4-4-2): Kuipers 7; Hinshelwood 7, Cullip 8, Butters 7, Harding 7; Currie 7, Hammond 7, Nicolas 7, Jones 7; Knight 7, Virgo 8. Subs: Mayo for Jones (withdrawn 80), Hart, Molango, Jarrett, May
Bookings: Knight (60) not retreating, Hammond (62) not retreating, Cullip (87) foul, Virgo (90) not retreating
Scorer: Broomes (own goal) 30 mins
PRESTON (3-5-2): Lonergan; Lucketti, Davis, Broomes; Mawene, Skora, O'Neil, McKenna, Lewis; Healy, Cresswell. Subs: Smith for Skora (withdrawn 56), Daley for Mawene (withdrawn 80), Davidson, Ward, McCormack
Bookings: O'Neil (31) foul, Cresswell (58) foul, Smith (61) foul
Half-Time: Albion 1 Preston 0
Attendance: 5,996
Fans' View
ANDY KING (Hove) Three points, well scrapped for. The game was memorable mainly for Adam Virgo's impressive performance up front. Nicolas looked suspiciously like a creative midfielder and if Currie had pace to go with his other abilities he probably wouldn't be playing for us.

ROY SCARBOROUGH (Hailsham) We played a lot better than we did against Bristol Rovers and seemed to have more desire for the ball. Virgo did well up front and Hammond played well in his first appearance for a long, long time. This is a very important result for us and I only hope we can keep it up.

JO STEWART (Brighton) A massively important result which gives us something to build on in the next few weeks. McGhee deserves a bit of credit for two risky changes (Virgo and Hammond) which both worked. The fans deserve credit for staying behind a young team.

JIM TURNER (Preston fan) I thought Brighton just about deserved the points. Apart from the last ten minutes, our performance was a disgrace to all the fans who had travelled so far down here to sit miles from the pitch behind an athletics track.