Albion have not endured many bad days at the office this season.

They have been punching above their weight in the Championship virtually from day one, so manager Mark McGhee was in forgiving mood after a lacklustre performance.

Cardiff, who by contrast had been punching below their weight until a January revival, cantered to a comfortable victory once they were 2-0 up inside the opening 20 minutes.

Guy Butters, deputising as captain again for the suspended and sorely missed Charlie Oatway, conceded: "I don't think anyone was at the races.

"We came alive after about 35 minutes and by that time we were 2-0 down. We have got to do better than that.

"You cannot put your finger on why. Maybe we thought our away form is pretty good and we just had to turn up.

"Thankfully it hasn't happened many times this season. The gaffer said in the changing room afterwards he would give us the benefit of the doubt.

"We have got to get back on track now after two losses on the trot. That hasn't happened for a long time."

Well not since successive defeats by Millwall and Stoke before Christmas.

Albion went seven games unbeaten after that, a sequence which will be much more difficult to emulate this time. The next seven fixtures include visits by Sunderland, Millwall, Wigan and Reading.

The starting point for another mini-surge is a return to the solidity so instrumental in that undefeated sequence. As against Derby the week before, the goals conceded by the Seagulls on Saturday could have been avoided.

The first was laced with an element of controversy. Kerry Mayo was penalised for a push inside his own area on Richard Langley after Alan Lee's header rebounded off the crossbar.

Peter Thorne sent David Yelldell the wrong way from the spot, his fourth penalty and 12th goal of the season.

Butters, incorrectly identified en masse by the local media as the penalty culprit from a press box poorly sited low down in the main stand at the opposite end of the pitch, felt aggrieved.

"The lad (Langley) jumped pretty early," he said. "I thought it was going over his head. Kerry came in and made a challenge and I think the lad was waiting for it."

Referee Mike Russell made a stranger decision in the closing stages. He played an advantage as one of his assistants flagged for a foul by sub Dan Harding as Cardiff winger Jobi McAnuff crossed.

Japanse international Junichi Inamoto missed the target from 12 yards, only for Russell to then award the free-kick for Harding's tackle.

A sarcastic Butters had a point when he revealed: "We said to him (Russell) afterwards what would have happened if he (Inamoto) had scored. He said he would have brought it back for the free-kick.

"Yeah, of course he would have in front of that crowd. He would have been lynched!"

Albion had nobody but themselves to blame for the second goal, which effectively ended the game with only 19 minutes played.

Welsh under-21 skipper James Collins, a doubtful starter due to an ankle injury, punished slack marking from Graham Kavanagh's free-kicked with a downward header which bounced into the roof of the net.

Albion's failure to find a way back into the match was certainly not for the want of trying on McGhee's part. Having started with the 3-5-2 formation which has proved so successful away from home, he then matched Cardiff's 4-4-2.

Gary Hart and Harding were simultaneously introduced early in the second half at the expense of Mayo and Paul Reid.

Albion finished with Hart and Adam Virgo joining Leon Knight and Mark McCammon up front after Paul Watson had replaced the recalled Nathan Jones, but it was all to no avail.

The Seagulls' solitary attempt on target was by Knight from long range, straight at Cardiff keeper Neil Alexander, midway through the second period.

Their best efforts were a couple of 20-yard shots from Jones against his old club in the opening ten minutes.

McGhee had no complaints about the penalty. "We made a poor start," he said. "I am not sure whether it was because physically we were a bit lethargic or the difference between our shape and theirs not allowing us to get close enough.

"At 1-0 we were about to change it and then it went 2-0, which made it really difficult. We did change the shape, which tightened us up a lot, but we never threatened them."

Albion will need to rediscover that mean streak at Withdean on Saturday to halt Sunderland's relentless march back towards the Premiership.

  • ALBION (3-5-2) Yelldell: Virgo, Hinshelwood, Butters; Reid, Nicolas, Carpenter, Jones, Mayo; McCammon, Knight. Subs: Hart 6 for Mayo (withdrawn 51), Harding for Reid (withdrawn 51), Watson for Jones (withdrawn 68), Hammond, May
  • Booking: Virgo (43) foul.
  • CARDIFF (4-4-2): Alexander; Weston, Gabbidon, Vidmar, Barker; McAnuff, Kavanagh, Inamoto, Langley; Thorne, Lee. Subs: Ledley for Lee (withdrawn 69), Bullock for Inamoto (withdrawn 84), Warner, Vidmar, Williams.
  • Booking: Langley (89) foul
  • Scorers: Thorne (16) penalty, Collins (19)
  • Attendance: 11,435.
  • Fans' View: NEAL WOOD (Hove) It was a very lacklustre, lethargic display and not the sort of thing we've been accustomed to this season. I'm worried because we are a long way from being safe but it almost seems like the players think they've done enough to stay up. Let's just hope for better against Sunderland.

BERNIE DAWES (Lancing) We had nothing up front. Leon Knight did a lot of running but didn't have a shot on goal for more than an hour and I'm not at all sure about Mark McCammon because he doesn't seem to get in the right positions. It was one of those games where nothing went right no matter what we did.

GRAEME REID (Eastbourne) A mediocre performance, particularly weak down our left side for most of the game. We hardly had a shot on target and the continuing absence of a striker on the bench is really starting to grate. The other results went for us but we can't keep relying on them forever and we must do better.

ADAM WESTON (Cardiff fan) Quite an uneventful afternoon as we got the job done but not a lot happened apart from the two goals. With the players we've got, we should have been midtable all season. We should be okay for the rest of the season but on this form Brighton could be dragged back into trouble.