Mark McGhee pulled another rabbit out of the hat at the Walkers Stadium as his golden wonders pulled off a shock victory against his old club with a crisp finish from Adam Virgo.

McGhee gave young powerhouse Adam El-Abd his first start of the season at rightback to help the defence cope with Leicester's physical threat.

El-Abd was one of six players in the starting line-up capable of playing at centre half, encouraging the belief beforehand that McGhee was going to play with five at the back to halt the flow of goals conceded away from home.

Instead he stuck to a 4-4-2, with Darren Currie moving from the right flank to the left and given freedom to roam.

The tactical tinkering after Saturday's first win of the season by the same score at home to Preston worked perfectly.

Leicester were in such a mess that when Nathan Blake replaced the injured Danny Tiatto midway through the second half they had four centre forwards and three wingers on the pitch!

This triumph must have been especially sweet for McGhee. Leicester fans have never forgiven him for leaving for Wolves following relegation from the top flight, even though it was nine years ago. He was booed as soon as he ventured from his seat towards the touchline in the first half.

The boos were much louder, mind you, at the final whistle for the Leicester players. They left the field to a chorus of "What a load of rubbish."

It was an awful afternoon for them and former Albion manager Micky Adams, who spent most of the match on the edge of his technical area and the pitch, hands in pockets or arms folded in dismay.

Even more encouraging for the Seagulls than an outstanding performance and result was the fact that El-Abd and Virgo were among five youth team products, all of them Sussex-born. A sixth, Dan Harding, was ruled out by a hamstring injury.

El-Abd said: "It came as a nice surprise to be playing and hopefully I can build from here. I was determined to give a good account of myself and I did that. We have worked a lot on our defensive shape, because we have given a few goals away.

"If we had come away with a 0-0 draw we would have been equally happy, but to come to a stadium like this with all their superstars and turn them over 1-0 when people were expecting us to be beaten three or four is tremendous for us."

The decisive goal five minutes from the break was superbly taken by Virgo, playing his second match as an emergency striker.

Leon Knight was in an offside position from Danny Cullip's ball forward, but he was coming back and therefore inactive.

Virgo, just on-side himself, had the presence of mind to change direction towards the Leicester goal. His control was perfect as he cut back onto his right foot to rifle a low drive from 20 yards through the legs of the hapless Matt Heath and beyond the diving Ian Walker.

Virgo, awarded his Albion debut by Adams as a 17-year-old, said: "I felt when the ball was cleared I was on side, because I was playing on the shoulder of Dabizas.

"I was more surprised about how well I brought it down. I took a touch and I think the keeper thought I was going to go for the other corner. I hit it early and it went through Heath's legs.

"It's always nice to get one over your old manager, but I am just absolutely delighted for us. If anyone had said we would get six points this weekend people would have laughed at us, but we know the togetherness of the team is always going to be there.

"We are all behind the manager. We know what he wants to do here. We had a few bad results at the start of the season, but the young guns are learning game by game. Now we have got a nice little break and hopefully we can then get another good result at Watford."

Virgo's contribution to Albion's emulation of Watford's surprise victory at Leicester was immense. Not only did he score, he worked his socks off as well. The only blemish for the match-winner was a fourth successive booking, one away from an automatic ban.

Virgo's goal was Albion's only shot on target but, as McGhee rightly pointed out, statistics can be misleading. Leicester too had only one meaningful effort on target and haid to wait until the 73rd minute for their only corner.

Dion Dublin had their best chance, heading wastefully wide from five yards from a cross by the energetic Tiatto in the 31st minute as the linesman flagged for offside.

Dublin lost out in the battle of the old warhorses with Guy Butters. He was switched from centre forward to centre half when he fired over from inside the Albion area early in the second half as Leicester were reduced to desperate late appeals for a penalty for handball by El-Abd.

"We didn't deserve one," admitted a grim-faced Adams. "We got what we deserved, nothing. I have no complaints about the reaction of the fans.

As he left, Adams spotted funeral director and former Argus columnist Ian Hart. "I could do with one of those coffins," Adams joked.

Albion have proved in the last two games they are far from dead and buried in this division.

  • ALBION (4-4-2): Kuipers 7; El-Abd 8, Cullip 8, Butters 8, Mayo 7; Hinshelwood 7, Hammond 7, Nicolas 8, Currie 7; Knight 7, Virgo 9. Subs: Hart for Knight (withdrawn 75), Jones for Currie (withdrawn 83), Molango for Virgo (withdrawn 90), Jarrett, May
  • Bookings: Currie (35) foul, Virgo (62) unsporting behaviour, Jones (90) foul Scorer: Virgo 40
  • LEICESTER (4-4-2): Walker; Canero, Heath, Dabizas, Stewart; Scowcroft, Gudjonsson, Tiatto; Dublin, Connolly. Subs: Gillespie for Gudjonsson (withdrawn 46), Wilcox for Dabizas (withdrawn 58), Blake for Tiatto (injured 66), Keown, Benjamin
  • Bookings: Connolly (16) foul, Tiatto (62) foul, Scowcroft (77) foul
  • Half-Time: Leicester 0 Albion 1
  • Attendance: 22,263
  • Fans' View GRANT RITCHIE (Brighton) No one played badly. Danny Cullip was solid at the back, Adam El-Abd had an excellent game and Dean Hammond was pretty steady. This result and the win on Saturday show we shouldn't be scared of Championship sides and will give us confidence in this division.

LLOYD RITCHIE (aged 11, Brighton) We played some good football at times, although it was backs to the wall for the last few minutes of each half. The goal was well taken by Adam Virgo. Danny Cullip played very well because he had a lot to do in the second half and kept us going.

NEIL COLE (Shoreham) It was a good all-round performance, particularly by the defence who held firm. I was pleased to see Kerry Mayo play well and Michel Kuipers looked pretty safe. Beating supposedly one of the better teams has given us a big lift and I think we can stay up.

ALEX COLE (aged 11, Shoreham) It was a great performance and worth the trip. Everyone played well, especially Cullip and Virgo, and it was a brilliant goal. This is my fourth away game and it's probably the best one I've seen.