The penny has dropped for Leon Knight - after Mark McGhee dropped him from the starting eleven.

Albion's manager is determined to turn his maverick marksman into more of a team player.

There are signs the message is getting through to last season's prolific top scorer.

Knight responded in the best way possible to his demotion to the bench for the previous match against Queens Park Rangers.

It wasn't so much the winning penalty, his first goal of the season, as his overall contribution to the cause which satisfied McGhee.

"I thought he was better," McGhee said. "He showed a lot more sharpness.

"He can still do a lot more in terms of little areas to help himself, but I thought he did a superb team job.

"On the back of that his match fitness will improve and he will get sharper.

"We'll keep working with him. I hope this is the start for him.

"Leon being on the scoresheet is not just about Leon, it's about us as a team and ways to get the ball to him in the right areas.

"We did that better at times. I thought he linked up better with Darren Currie, which is something we have talked about.

"It's about the team and Leon is now getting a total grasp of that. We won the game because of the team effort."

Knight produced the most memorable moment of a scrappy match in the first half, a wonderful crossfield pass which released Dean Hammond.

His response when asked about it will delight McGhee. "It's not all about scoring goals," said Knight. "You have got to contribute in other ways. That also means for me setting up goals and holding up play."

Albion's general superiority over a poor Gillingham side threatened to count for nothing on the scoresheet until a rash challenge inside his own area by Chris Hope with 11 minutes left.

He clumsily tripped Knight when there was no danger of a goal, which gave Knight another opportunity to demonstrate his prowess from the penalty spot.

His routine, copied from Eric Cantona, worked again. As he checked his run-up, keeper Steve Banks was already diving in the wrong direction.

Knight is matter-of-fact about being put on the spot. He has only missed one penalty for Albion and even that ended in a successful re-take after the Barnsley keeper moved too early.

He said: "My last penalty was at the Millennium Stadium (in the play-off final). I just set up the same way as I did for that one. A striker shouldn't really be missing from 12 yards. Sometimes the keeper makes a good save or reads you or you don't hit it so cleanly. I just focus on hitting the ball cleanly and straight into the corner, playing a little psychological game with the goalkeeper."

Knight's mind games were no more than Albion deserved. They had the better of a contest bereft of chances.

He almost scored his first goal from open play since April early on, when he darted in behind a napping Gillingham defence to latch onto a pass down the line from Dan Harding. Banks kept out Knight's angled drive with a one-handed save.

Banks was busier than Michel Kuipers. The big Dutchman had a comfortable afternoon behind a reshuffled defence in which the versatile Adam Hinshelwood impressed in the middle.

His amended role in the continuing absence of Guy Butters made room for Richard Carpenter's first start of the season in the centre of midfield against his old club after summer knee surgery, with Dean Hammond moving out to the right.

Charlie Oatway was also introduced midway through the second half for the tiring Alexis Nicolas.

The introduction of Chris McPhee at the same time for the stricken Adam El-Abd saw Adam Virgo switch from centre forward to centre half and Hinshelwood into El-Abd's rightback berth.

"It's one of the great advantages we have, the adaptability of young players like Adam Hinshelwood, Adam El-Abd and Adam Virgo," McGhee said. "The back four that finished the game of Hinsh, Cullip, Virgo and Harding is probably one of the future back fours for us.

"I thought Richard Carpenter played well. At no time did he flag, which was pleasing. He maybe ran on adrenalin a wee bit at the end with the lead we had.

"Charlie was terrific as well when he came on. Not only did he get amongst things, he won balls in the air and played intelligent balls into the corners. It was just fresh legs. I thought Alexis had another super game."

That is more than can be said for most of the Gillingham players. They have now taken only one point from the last 12 and had the distinct smell of a side destined for a long, hard winter.

Albion, now a point above them, are proving the doom merchants wrong, all be it in unexpected fashion.

They are doing much better away from home than at Withdean, an encouraging thought as they bid to stretch their unbeaten record on the road to four games at Nottingham Forest on Wednesday.

  • ALBION (4-4-2): Kuipers 7; El-Abd 7, Cullip 7, Hinshelwood 8, Harding 7; Hammond 7, Carpenter 7, Nicolas 7, Currie 7; Knight 8, Virgo 7. Subs: Oatway for Nicolas (withdrawn 66), McPhee for El-Abd (injured 66), Mayo, Jarrett, May
  • Bookings: El-Abd (58) foul, Cullip (81) foul
  • Scorer: Knight (79 penalty)
  • GILLINGHAM (4-3-3): Brown; Nosworthy, Cox, Hope, Hills; Southall, Smith, Perpetuini; Byfield, Roberts, Agyemang. Subs: Sidibe for Roberts (withdrawn 66), Brown, Johnson, Crofts, Spiller
  • Booking: Nosworthy (24) foul
  • Half-Time: Gillingham 0 Albion 0
  • Attendance: 8,365
  • Fans' View: ANDY RUMBLE (Haywards Heath) We showed great resolve after the disappointment of the QPR game. It was a Cinderella story for Leon Knight, who looked like he was playing with the right attitude after getting a kick up the backside by being left on the bench last week.

WILL DONOHOE (Brighton) The first half was a bit scrappy but we picked up the game in the second half and deserved to win. Gillingham gave the ball away quite a bit but Knight played quite well for us. I think it's a very important result and I'm sure it will boost morale.

PHILIP LEE (Brighton) Knight's class showed a bit in the second half and Danny Cullip was solid at the back as usual. I thought it was a penalty and we should also have had one in the first few minutes of the first half. It was quite an even game but we deserved the win for our workrate.

JAMIE VAN DER WESTHUIZEN (Southampton) We fully deserved the three points. I thought Richard Carpenter had an excellent game, battling very hard, and Knight showed a lot of confidence to take the penalty like that. We were solid at the back and coped with everything they threw at us.