Albion are in second place at half time in the season and smack on course for promotion.

Yet only four months ago Micky Adams was under fire from fans at Withdean and the Seagulls were near the bottom of the table.

It has been an amazing turnaround, ignited by a heart-to-heart with the players, the arrival of a new face, a confidence-restoring result and a change in system.

It seems hard to believe now but Albion lost three of their first four League games, including dismal defeats on the opening day at Southend and at home to Kidderminster on August Bank Holiday Monday.

"It was an horrendous start," Adams admitted. "I thought Southend away would be difficult. I knew the expectancy on our shoulders. It was a red-hot day and I felt quite embarrassed.

"I was watching the lads warm up. Our fans were in carnival mood, singing we're going up before we had kicked a ball.

"Alan Little (former Southend manager) was standing alongside me and I apologised to him. It must have been easy for him to motivate his players.

"There was a bit of flak flying from the fans over the far side at Withdean when we lost to Kidderminster.

"At the end of August I couldn't believe we had reached that low point after having so much confidence in ourselves at the end of last season. We didn't look together as a unit in defence that day and we had no sort of fluency going forward."

Adams got his players together the morning after the Kidderminster debacle to clear the air.

A couple of days later, with Andy Crosby ruled out by suspension, he signed central defender Matthew Wicks, initially on loan from Peterborough.

The impact was instant. "Seasons can change sometimes on one result," Adams said. "In the next game against Torquay we ended up winning 6-2. It was a key result, just like the one at Chester when we went on our unbeaten run at the end of last season."

Adams then made the sort of spur-of-the-moment decision managers live or die by.

He changed a winning team together with the formation for the Worthington Cup second leg tie at Millwall.

Paul Brooker went out and captain Paul Rogers came back in, creating the 4-3-3 system Adams has pretty much stuck to ever since.

Gary Hart was pushed out to the right wing, with Nathan Jones down the left and Bobby Zamora alone through the middle.

Albion have not looked back, winning 15 out of 22 matches in all competitions and losing just three.

"II thought it might be negative," Adams revealed. "I wanted to give us a chance at Millwall by not conceding an early goal.

"The lads adapted to it really well. We did no work on it at all. I put a clipboard up on the morning of the game and ran through what I expected of them.

"It went well and we got a lot of confidence from it. Bobby Zamora is a bit of a free spirit anyway at times.

"You often see him dropping into midfield or out on the wings, so it is hard to get a partnership going with him. He gets hold of the ball well for us."

Instrumental to Albion's surge up the table has been their form at Withdean, where they struggled so badly for much of last season.

They have chalked up ten wins and a draw at their temporary home since the Kidderminster flop, despite the poor state of the pitch.

"If you are going to be successful you have got to get your home form right and ours is spot-on," Adams said.

"We have adapted to the situation at Withdean. Perhaps other teams are affected by the pitch more than us now.

"We're used to it, but I can still see it being a problem. Darlington were flying at this time last season, then their pitch got to them. It affected the players' confidence and cost them promotion.

"We are all accepting the fact that we haven't got a good pitch. What else can we do? We are not Man United, so we can't dig it up and lay another one."

Adams is also content with Albion's away form so far, although he is as puzzled as everyone by a meagre goal tally on their travels of nine in 11 games and the prolific Zamora's failure to score any of them.

"Our away form can be better," he said. "We lost our first two away games. If you look at it after that it's not bad.

"We prepare the same way for away games, so I can't put my finger on it. I encourage them to do the things they do at home.

"It might just be confidence. We have been unlucky in some games and could have hurt a few more teams.

"Maybe we need a big result like at Chester last season, but I am not concerned about it. It doesn't matter how you win as long as you do."