Albion might be in the mire at the moment, but they will survive this season if they continue the form they showed in a pulsating south coast derby.

Don't take my word for it, listen to what Paul Merson had to say after an eventful fourth defeat in succession for the Seagulls.

Pacesetting Portsmouth's captain and playmaker said: "They are the best team that have come here so far. Fair play to them, I thought they would come and defend.

"They have been in a bad run, but they went for it. I'm surprised they are where they are in the League.

"They played some good football and they have got a good team spirit. If they keep on doing what they did against us I think they will stay up."

I would add a proviso to Merson's assessment. Albion will have to defend better, but then they will not come up against teams every week with Pompey's array of attacking talent.

They were scintillating going forward, although their vulnerability at the back could prove more costly against the sides immediately below them.

The Seagulls managed to rattle them in the first half, even without the injured Bobby Zamora and Paul Kitson.

All credit to Martin Hinshelwood's underdogs for the way they responded to falling behind after just three minutes.

The irrepressible Merson, man marked to good effect for long periods by Charlie Oatway, clipped a delightful pass through to Matthew Taylor and the outstanding young left wingback fired a low angled drive across Andy Petterson with unerring accuracy.

Instead of caving in, Albion had the audacity to get their noses in front by the 19th minute.

Danny Cullip, rivalling the busy Petterson for the man of the match accolade, ended a collective famine stretching back six hours and 40 minutes to Zamora's opening day clincher at Burnley with a side-foot finish after new boy Graham Barrett had a shot blocked.

The second was a gift, Paul Brooker latching onto a backpass from Richard Hughes to slip his second of the season past Shaka Hislop.

Pompey chief Harry Redknapp was sufficiently perturbed at that stage to switch from three centre halves to a flat back four.

Unfortunately for Albion, they couldn't cling onto their advantage for long enough.

The other newcomer Guy Butters, up against his old club, was deemed to be holding Deon Burton from Taylor's cross and Merson levelled from the spot with only 26 minutes on the clock.

Pompey were back in front just before the break. A diagonal cross from Nigel Quashie found Taylor with space beyond the far post to cross low and square for Stetoslav Todorov to apply the simplest of finishes from close range.

Right wingback Jason Crowe, not to be outdone by Taylor, made sure Portsmouth would emulate their best ever start to a season seven minutes into the restart.

He cut infield to curve a superb left-foot shot beyond the groping Petterson from 20 yards.

Albion kept plugging away, but Barrett's debut of diligence and promise was marred by a red card 14 minutes from time following a scuffle with Taylor inside the Portsmouth penalty area.

Referee Steve Bennett, in charge of the defeat at Wimbledon the previous Saturday, appeared to spot only the on-loan Irishman's retaliation, not the reason for it.

He consulted his assistant before dismissing Arsenal's young striker, while Taylor escaped with a caution.

It was indicative of Albion's day. As so often happens with teams at the wrong end of the table, they didn't enjoy the rub of the green.

Hinshelwood said: "I can't afford to get fined because I'm not on enough money, but how can we have the same ref two weeks running?

"There were a lot of bookings, but I didn't see a bad tackle in the game.

"Guy said he (Burton) was backing into him for the penalty. After half time a defender was up on Danny's (Cullip) shoulders from a long throw and he didn't give it.

"We were disappointed with the fourth goal because he gave a free-kick, he was talking to Richard Carpenter and they took it three yards from where it should have been.

"They are the things which at the moment are going against us.

"Portsmouth are top of the League, they have got a lot of quality players and I think my players were first class.

"The disappointing thing is that we gave silly goals away and you cannot give goals away to sides like them."

It was a baptism of fire for Butters, making his first start of the season following his free transfer move from Gillingham.

Like Kitson, he needs some games under his belt before showing his true value.

Had Hinshelwood been appointed when he should have been, shortly after Peter Taylor's departure, they would have spent pre-season with Albion and been match fit by now instead of playing catch-up.

The rest of the First Division are playing catch-up with Portsmouth at present and they could soon add Tim Sherwood to their star-studded squad, but the canny Merson wasn't fooled.

"We papered over the cracks really," he admitted. "Our defending was bad. We scored in three minutes and then we all thought it was going to be too easy. We were lucky to get back into it again after going 2-1 down."

Albion (4-3-3): Petterson (gk) 8, Watson (lb) 7, Cullip (cd) 8, Butters (cd) 6, Oatway (cm) 7, Brooker (lw) 7, Carpenter (cm) 7, Pethick (rb) 6, Marney (rw) 6, Melton (cm) 6, Barrett (f) 6. Subs: Packham, Rogers, Jones, Wilkinson for Melton (withdrawn 73), A. Hinshewlood.

Scorers: Cullip (8), Brooker (19).

Sent off: Barrett (76) violent conduct.

Bookings: Butters (60) foul, Oatway (64) foul, Wilkinson (75) foul.

Half-Time: Pompey 3 Albion 2
Fan's View: Sid Seacombe (Worthing)

It was an amazing first 45 minutes and if we could have held them to 2-2 at half time, I believe we could have got a result. We did not get tight enough on their left flank and that cost us dearly on two of their goals. They killed us off quite early in the second half with their fourth goal. It then seemed an exercise in damage limitation. Their fans were like a 12th man to them and if you add the referee as the 13th man, we were always going to struggle. We are light years behind Portsmouth and the others when you go to these grounds and see the facilities and atmosphere the home fans generate. It was a much more spirited display than a week earlier and if we can get back to full strength, wins will follow. A point is vital at Millwall.