The message came through loud and clear after Albion's spot of bother on a bleak afternoon in Staffordshire.

Manager Mark McGhee and defender Dan Harding agreed the pair of penalties which condemned them to defeat were dubious.

More importantly, in the wider scheme of things, they both pointed out that events at the Britannia Stadium and elsewhere emphasised it is too early to consider Championship survival a formality.

Rotherham are doomed but the fight to avoid the other two relegation places still involves ten other teams. Even Watford, above Albion on goal difference with a game in hand, are not out of the woods yet following victories for four of the bottom five.

Gillingham's success at Rotherham was hardly surprising and McGhee fancied Nottingham Forest to continue their revival at Leicester who, together with Crewe and Plymouth, are looking anxiously over their shoulders.

Wins for Micky Adams' Coventry at Watford and cash-strapped Cardiff at home to Sheffield United were more unexpected.

An unhelpful set of results is no cause for panic. Albion still enjoy a healthy seven-point cushion with ten games to go and their fate remains very much in their own hands.

They still have Plymouth, Coventry and Rotherham to play away, and Leicester at home. A couple of wins from those games alone, combined with the odd draw or two, should be sufficient.

Former Rotherham manager Ronnie Moore may, inadvertently, have done Albion a favour with his shock prediction last week that the third relegation spot rests between the Seagulls and Coventry.

There is, and never has been, any complacency from inside the camp but you sense supporters have prematurely been counting their chickens.

The visit to Plymouth should concentrate their minds. A third away defeat on the trot would automatically lift Argyle above Albion.

Harding acknowledged how rapidly the picture can alter after Albion paid the price for an impotent first half at Stoke. The England under-21 leftback admitted: "It's a very good wake-up call for us. It showed we've still got a lot to do.

"We played a bit better in the second half but the result wasn't what we needed. We cannot rely on other people's results, we have got to pick up points and get out of it ourselves.

"Plymouth is the same sort of situation as when we played Forest at home. We cannot afford to lose."

It was always going to be a difficult task against a robust Stoke side re-invigorated by a four-match unbeaten run.

McGhee's decision to name an unchanged team lasted less than half-an-hour, Charlie Oatway replacing the rusty Chris McPhee.

Mark McCammon, feeling unwell, gave way at half-time to Nathan Jones, by which stage goal-shy Stoke had scored twice for only the second time in 20 matches.

A centre forward's challenge inside his own area by McCammon on Michael Duberry allowed Gifton Noel-Williams to raise his season's tally to seven from the spot.

The second penalty award, four minutes later, was much more controversial. A Stoke hand went up from a corner by the lively Kevin Harper but it emerged after the match that Harding was the Albion player harshly penalised for holding.

Noel-Williams put the penalty in exactly the same place, high to Rami Shaaban's right, and although the keeper dived the right way second time around he still stood no chance.

Russell Booth, from Nottinghamshire, must be wondering what he has done to deserve the blame for Albion's defeat. Booth was listed as the referee, both in the programme and on the teamsheet handed out to the press.

Unfortunately, nobody in Stoke's media department pointed out there had been a change. Colin Webster, from Tyne and Wear, was in fact the man in the middle, information which did not emerge until half-an-hour after the final whistle.

Journalists hurriedly amended their reports but it was too late for some, as regular readers of the Sports Argus may have noticed. I might have guessed. A check revealed the fussy Webster had already issued 11 red cards and 88 yellow this season.

He added four more bookings to his tally, including absurd ones for Alexis Nicolas and Stoke captain Clive Clarke, and awarded an extraordinary total of 38 free-kicks in a competitive but by no means dirty contest.

When the outstanding Adam Hinshelwood raised his hands in blocking a shot by Clint Hill moments before the interval, it was arguably more of a penalty than either of those Webster had already awarded.

Albion played much better after the break without seriously suggesting they would breach the meanest defence in the Coca-Cola League, although Jones and Gary Hart forced saves out of Steve Simonsen with shots from outside the box.

  • ALBION (4-4-2): Shaaban; Reid, Hinshelwood, Butters, Harding; Hart, Nicolas, Carpenter, Knight; McPhee, McCammon. Subs: Oatway for McPhee (withdrawn 28), Jones for McCammon (withdrawn 46), El-Abd for Nicolas (withdrawn 72), Mayo, Yelldell
  • Bookings: Knight (44) dissent, Nicolas (68) not retreating, El-Abd (90) foul.
  • STOKE (4-4-2): Simonsen; Thomas, Duberry, Taggart, Hill; Harper, Brammer, Russell, Clive Clarke; Jones, Noel-Williams. Subs: Greenacre for Clive Clarke (withdrawn 60), Henry for Harper (withdrawn 80), Chris Clarke for Noel-Williams (withdrawn 90), De Goey, Buxton.
  • Bookings: Clarke (52) not retreating
  • Scorer: Noel Williams (39 and 43, both pens)
  • Attendance: 14,908.
  • Fans' View: ROBERT EMERY (Birmingham) The first penalty may have been one but the second looked doubtful. The overall performance was pretty poor, we seemed to lack shape and the way we didn't get going at all was similar to the defeat at Cardiff. We're still in a dogfight and we need at least a draw at Plymouth.

KRIS DAVIS (Brighton) A dismal display as we appeared unusually disorganised and disjointed. The two penalties looked fair enough and we were lucky to survive another shout for handball just before half-time. We had nothing up front, nothing in midfield and nothing at the back.

MARK STEER (Burgess Hill) Other than the two soft penalties, Stoke didn't really look like they were going to score. They just worked harder than us and we didn't start playing until the second half. I think we started with the wrong team and Mark McGhee obviously thought so too because he changed it so quickly.

PAT JACKSON (Hove) I would like to see the penalties again but they both looked dubious. If Chris McPhee wasn't injured during the match, it makes you wonder what he was doing starting the game in the first place. The other results were terrible and a timely reminder that we are still some way from being safe.