May 8: Wrexham 0 Albion 2

Albion's hopes of an instant return to the First Division remain in the balance, but in terms of mood they may just have an edge over the other three teams involved.

Manager Mark McGhee will not be alone in regarding the club where he began his playing career as the favourites.

Bristol City have, after all, finished third and will have learnt from last season, when they lost narrowly in the play-off semi-finals to Cardiff who went on to be promoted.

Danny Wilson's players must, however, feel a bit deflated at the moment. They have been chasing QPR for the second automatic spot for some time now, a pursuit put narrowly beyond them by Rangers' victory at Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday.

What of Swindon, Albion's semi-final opponents? They have not exactly ended the season on a high. Beaten by Rangers the week before, they had to endure a nervy 1-1 home draw with Hartlepool which secured a top six finish for both sides at the expense of Port Vale.

It would be dangerous to write Hartlepool off against Bristol or, if it came to it, against Albion in the final. Like Swindon, they have taken only one point from the last two games, but they have already exceeded all expectations and so are more carefree.

McGhee's men could hardly be in finer fettle for the challenges ahead. An ultimately comfortable victory over mid-table Wrexham made it five games undefeated, a run bettered only this season in February and March when they were unbeaten for seven matches.

To go with a strong finish they have a keeper in peak form. Bristol City and Hartlepool couldn't beat Ben Roberts last month. Can Swindon?

Nobody has been able to since Blackpool's John Murphy on Easter Saturday, in playing terms an extraordinary seven hours and 41 minutes ago.

Roberts' recent excellence has coincided with a rare injury-free run. He has been plagued by problems throughout his career to such an extent that Saturday's 15th successive appearance for the Seagulls equalled his longest uninterrupted sequence, when on loan to Wycombe from Middlesbrough back in 1996.

The much-travelled custodian kept Albion's early 1-0 lead in tact in the first half with some fine saves, most notably two within a minute shortly before the break.

A close-range header by Dennis Lawrence, Wrexham's giant centre half, from a cross by fellow Trinidadian Carlos Edwards, had goal written all over it until Roberts' diving mid-air deflection.

Chris Armstrong, once of Spurs and Crystal Palace fame, would then have equalised with his first touch after replacing the injured Jeff Whitley but for the speed and bravery of Roberts. He dashed off his line to smother at the feet of the substitute, running on to Lawrence's flick header.

The contest was determined by goals at the start of both halves by the biggest men on the pitch, Chris Iwelumo and the 6ft 7ins Lawrence.

Albion's imposing target man, now sporting an Afro hairstyle instead of plaits, took only eight minutes to end his five-match famine in simple fashion.

Danny Cullip's free-kick from just inside Albion territory was headed goalwards by Adam Virgo for Iwelumo to nod his fourth in ten games since arriving from Stoke via the underside of the crossbar.

The Seagulls could have been 3-0 up inside the opening quarter-of-an-hour. Iwelumo had earlier missed an easier chance and Leon Knight was uncharacteristically off-key in front of goal.

Wrexham were entitled to feel parity was the least they warranted by the midway point. Apart from Roberts' brilliance, Chris Llewellyn volleyed against the bar from a smartly taken free-kick by Sir Alex Ferguson's son Darren, who played under McGhee at Wolves.

An entertaining encounter effectively came to a premature end five minutes into the restart when Lawrence looped a header at the near post from a cross by Virgo over his own keeper.

How Lawrence must loathe playing against Albion. He gave away two penalties for handball on their previous visit to North Wales.

From that moment McGhee killed the game off with calculated professionalism. Iwelumo was withdrawn and Adam El-Abd introduced to emulate Wrexham's 3-5-2 formation, denying room down the flanks for the unrelated Edwards' (Carlos and Paul) to repeat the havoc they created in the opening 45 minutes.

McGhee was justifiably contented. "The hardest part is still to come and the most important part is still to come, but achieving 77 points is fairly impressive," he said. The lads have done well. They have worked hard, kept their discipline and believed when things were not always going our way."

Paul Reid, handed a revised role in the middle of midfield with Richard Carpenter resting a knee problem, is among several Albion players relishing the prospect of being involved in the play-offs for the first time.

"This was the way we wanted to finish off," said the young Australian.

"We have hopefully got three games left and we were hoping for a good result to give us a bit of momentum going into the play-offs."

ALBION (4-4-2): Roberts (gk) 9; Cullip (cd) 8, Knight (f) 6, Hart (rm) 6, Oatway (cm) 7, Butters (cd) 7, Jones (lm) 6, Virgo (rb) 7, Harding (lb) 6, Iwelumo (f) 6, Reid (cm) 7. Subs: Kuipers, Mayo, Piercy for Jones (withdrawn 78), McPhee for Hart (withdrawn 67), El-Abd for Iwelumo (withdrawn 60).

Scorers: Iwelumo (8), Lawrence (50) own goal.

WREXHAM (3-5-2): Ingham; Whitley, S. Roberts, Carey, Lawrence, C. Edwards, Ferguson, Llewellyn, P. Edwards, Thomas, Sam. Subs: Whitfield, Holmes, Armstrong for Whitley (injured 42), Barrett for Thomas (injured 26), Morgan for Carey (withdrawn 74).

Half-Time: Wrexham 0 Albion 1.

Attendance: 4,542.

Fans' View:

JON WEEKS (Coldean)

It was a lot better generally and we seemed to be pretty much on top of things. Roberts was superb and I can't fault him in any way, but everyone seemed to have their heads screwed on the right way. We should be fine against Swindon if we play again like we did at Wrexham.

TINA STUART (Crawley)

I thought it was quite a comfortable win. The only time we really came under any sort of pressure was in the last 15 minutes of the first half when Roberts came to our rescue a couple of times. We were the better side overall and it was possibly the best sustained passing and possession away from home under McGhee.

MATT CAWTHRA (Burgess Hill)

The performance was OK and better in the second half when we went forward more. Roberts made a great save in the first half and Iwelumo stopped their tall number six winning everything in the air. I think Swindon are the best team we've played this season, but we can get a draw away and beat them at home.

DAVE McNIVEN (Wrexham fan)

Brighton deserved their win, although we did at least make a game of it in the first half. Their fans were absolutely magnificent, leading the protests against our board and really making themselves heard. They are a credit to the club and I really hope they get the new stadium they so richly deserve.