It wasn't particularly pretty and it was decided by two untidy goals, but there were a couple of very good reasons for Albion boss Steve Coppell to rejoice in another three home points.

The Seagulls put their first defeat of the season at Barnsley on Saturday firmly behind them.

They also achieved their third victory out of four in the League without three of their four regular defenders.

The ability to bounce back from the inevitable setbacks suffered over the course of a season will be crucial to Albion's promotion prospects.

So too will be the way squad players perform when Coppell is deprived of his first choice line-up.

"It was just important for us to win, by hook or by crook," he acknowledged.

"If we hadn't have won then we would have been going to Plymouth on Saturday all of a sudden floundering after a really good start.

"The cleansheet was a very pleasant by-product. It got a bit jittery at times but I was quite pleased with the performance. Even if we had ended up 1-1 the quality of the performance was that much better than on Saturday."

It is reasonable to assume Coppell would have regarded his full-strength back four to be Paul Watson at rightback, Danny Cullip and Dean Blackwell in the centre of defence and Kerry Mayo at leftback.

Blackwell's serious pre-season knee injury was compounded yesterday by the absences of Cullip (hamstring) and Watson (sore foot arches).

Coppell, already concerned by a general lack of height throughout the team and aware that Luton have in Steve Howard an old-fashioned type centre forward, recalled Guy Butters from ten months in the wilderness.

Butters had not featured since Coppell's first match in charge, the 4-2 home defeat by Sheffield United last October.

His return alongside former Portsmouth team-mate Robbie Pethick in the centre of defence, with the again impressive Adam Hinshelwood reverting to rightback, was a resounding success.

Butters did not put a foot wrong and Howard became so frustrated that he received a straight red card on 56 minutes for foul and abusive language towards linesman Jarnail Singh.

It left Albion up against ten men for part of the second half for the third match running yet, as so often happens, Luton played better then than with 11.

The visitors only really threatened to score when they were at a numerical disadvantage, apart from a misdirected first half cross from Matthew Spring which fooled Ben Roberts and ended up as a shot against the bar.

The Seagulls were forced into a midfield change as well. A groin injury sidelined Simon Rodger, so Charlie Oatway returned and took over the captaincy from Cullip.

This was a fringe benefit because Oatway, like Cullip, is a real leader on the pitch. He capped a ubiquitous display, embracing a clash with rival skipper Kevin Nicholls as the players left the pitch at half time, with the late goal which finally punctured the Hatters' hopes of pinching a point.

Oatway's influence on proceedings began as early as the tenth minute, when he worked a short corner routine with Nathan Jones.

Gary Hart turned away from his marker to fire narrowly wide of the far post.

The breakthrough came six minutes later when Jones, playing against his first English club, crossed to the unmarked Darius Henderson at the far post.

His left-foot drive deflected in off Luton defender Chris Coyne, leaving the on-loan Reading forward celebrating his second goal for the club. Unfortunately for Henderson, a video replay at half time showed his shot was missing the target when Coyne intervened.

Henderson could have been on the scoresheet either side of the break.

He hooked a volley wide when intercepting a header back towards his goalkeeper by Kevin Foley, then shot just off target.

Albion should have found a second goal earlier to kill Luton off.

Leon Knight, embroiled in a running battle with Coyne, glanced a header wide from close range after Jones pre-empted a cross with a superb piece of crowd-pleasing skill.

Jones himself had an angled effort blocked by teenage keeper Rob Beckwith after Henderson had cleverly released him from Roberts' goalkick.

Howard was not the only one down the tunnel early for Luton.

In the 72nd minute, manager Mike Newell stopped the ball as it just ran out of play by the dugouts with Jones, making his farewell appearance before a three-match ban, in pursuit and trying to launch a breakaway.

Ref Phil Crossley banished Newell for encroaching outside the technical area. With nowhere else to sit, Newell was escorted by two stewards to the tunnel.

Oatway's second goal in the last three home games with five minutes left was a nightmare for Beckwith, where ever you were watching it from.

He made a fine stop in the first half from a free-kick by Richard Carpenter which changed direction via a deflection, only to allow Oatway's right-foot volley from long range to slip through his grasp.

Albion were grateful for the abberation, but there was a nice touch at the final whistle as Oatway and a succession of sympathetic team-mates made a point of shaking hands with the crestfallen young custodian.

  • ALBION (4-4-2): Roberts (gk) 7; Mayo (lb) 7, Pethick (cd) 7, Knight (f) 7, Hart (rm) 7, Oatway (cm) 9, Henderson (f) 7, Carpenter (cm) 7, Butters (cd) 8, Jones (lm) 7, Hinshelwood (rb) 8. Subs: Kuipers, Wilkinson, Piercy for Knight (withdrawn 86), McPhee for Henderson (withdrawn 68), Harding.
  • Scorers: Coyne own goal (16), Oatway (85).
  • Bookings: Knight (84) unsporting behaviour.
  • LUTON (4-4-2): Beckwith; Spring, Nicholls, Coyne, Pitt, Howard, Hughes, Bayliss, Davis, McSheffrey, Foley. Subs: Neilson, Brkovic, Hillier, Brill, Crowe for McSheffrey (withdrawn 64).
  • Sent Off: Howard (56) unsporting behaviour.
  • Bookings: Nicholls (33) unsporting behaviour, Davis (36) foul, Coyne (65) foul.
  • Half-Time: Albion 1 Luton 0.
  • Attendance: 6,604.
  • Fan's View: Fred Cund (Sompting) Having followed the Albion through many ups and downs during the last 50 years, I was really impressed by the whole team's performance against Luton Town.

Nathan Jones was outstanding as was Charlie Oatway, whose goal capped an excellent game.

Although Luton were very disappointing, which is a polite word for c**p, Albion's defence, even without the influential Danny Cullip, were rock-solid and goalkeeper Ben Roberts did what he had to do when called upon.

Leon Knight could yet fill the void left by Bobby Zamora, and if he scores 20 goals or so in a consistent Albion side we could be back in Division One this time next year.

What's more, with Coppell at the helm, we will stay there this time!