September 27: Hartlepool 0 Albion 0

A pattern of narrow away defeats was halted three days after their extra time exertions in the Carling Cup at nearby Middlesbrough.

It was, in the circumstances, an excellent result which certainly satisfied injured skipper Danny Cullip.

"It was going to be a hard game, even if we hadn't played in midweek," he said.

"We played some very good football at the start of the second half. If we had scored then I think we would have gone on and won.

"The first half was a battle, which you expect. They are a good team at home, but we've got a clean sheet and proved we can do it away from home."

The Seagulls survived a frenetic final 15 minutes without their inspirational leader. Cullip hobbled off after sustaining a calf strain making a clearance.

"I got a kick on the calf on Wednesday, but this was higher up," he said. "I caught my ankle early on in the game, so I was maybe putting a bit more pressure on the other leg.

"Just as I cleared the ball I felt something go. It's ridiculous the way all our injuries are coming at one time, but we will crack on and hopefully get a result on Tuesday."

The manner in which Cullip limped away from Victoria Park suggests Albion will have to do without him beyond the visit to Rushden and Diamonds.

Manager Steve Coppell already has a crippling casualty list to cope with.

Robbie Pethick, an obvious contender to plug the gap in the centre of defence, continued in the middle of midfield on Saturday in place of Simon Rodger, who has surgery today on a torn cartilage in his left knee.

Charlie Oatway (disc), Paul Watson (feet), Ben Roberts (back) and Dean Blackwell (knee) are also sidelined, so the experienced heart has been ripped out of Coppell's squad.

Adam Hinshelwood is another option at centre half, but Coppell may be loathed to move the youngster from his role as Watson's rightback deputy after an outstanding performance.

Hinshelwood combined incisive forward runs with some fantastic defending, highlighted by a diving header at the expense of a corner to deny Darrell Clarke in the second half.

Yesterday marked the anniversary of Hartlepool's last home League defeat, by Rushden.

Michel Kuipers was so well protected against the highest scorers in the division that he only had three saves to make to secure another shut-out.

In the first half the big Dutchman stretched to hold a header on the run from Eifion Williams, Hartlepool's most dangerous player.

After the break he got a hand to Clarke's touch from a cross and then tipped over a looping header from Marco Gabbiadini while Cullip was stricken.

Albion would have been entitled to feel aggrieved had they fallen behind from the ensuing corner.

The linesman's refusal to let Dan Harding on to replace Cullip and the consequential yellow card for the unfortunate youngster after Coppell pushed him on was crazy.

Guy Butters, who comprehensively won the battle of the old warhorses with Gabbiadini, Richard Carpenter and Darius Henderson were also cautioned in the last half-hour.

Henderson, now approaching the end of his second month on loan from Reading, has yet to find the net from open play.

Four blank sheets out of five away from fortress Withdean is a concern, although Albion had the better chances on Saturday.

Gary Hart spurned the cleanest one of the match midway through the half from Henderson's defence-splitting pass.

His angled shot from ten yards was parried by Jim Provett, who also foiled Pethick at the start and end of the second half.

They were not the only near misses. Cullip clipped the crossbar with a back-header from a Carpenter corner and Leon Knight twice went close to increasing his tally with shots from outside the box.

The prolific Paul Robinson was contrastingly impotent for Hartlepool before he was replaced early into the restart.

Coppell said: "The result was probably a fair reflection. If anything we had more opportunities but were not just at our very best, probably because of the energy we expended on Wednesday.

"It takes it out of you, 120 minutes. It was more or less the same group of players because of our injuries.

"When in the last 15 minutes we lost our captain, who is so very important to us, I think everyone rallied round really well and it was a good point for us.

"If we had come away with nothing then it would have been a painful six and a half hour journey home.

"We can take some satisfaction in what is still a very congested period for us.

"We've got a game on Tuesday, so we have got to lick our wounds very quickly and get up for our third away game in a week."

It is almost five hours since Colchester's Wayne Andrews scored the last League goal against Albion. That stat will be severely tested in the absence of Cullip.

• ALBION (4-4-2): Kuipers (gk) 7; Mayo (lb) 7, Cullip (cd) 8, Pethick (cm) 7, Knight (f) 7, Hart (rm) 7, Henderson (f) 7, Carpenter (cm) 7, Butters (cd) 8, Jones (lm) 7, Hinshelwood (rb) 9. Subs: Piercy, McPhee, Harding for Cullip (injured 75), Flitney, Robinson.
• Bookings: Henderson (60) foul, Harding (76) pitch encroachment, Butters (87) unsporting behaviour, Carpenter (95) foul.
• HARTLEPOOL (3-5-2): Provett; Barron, Nelson, Clarke, Westwood, E. Williams, Strachan, Tinkler, Humphreys, Gabbiadini, Robinson. Subs: A. Williams, Robson, Easter for Robinson (withdrawn 53), Istead for Clarke (withdrawn 78), McCann.
• Bookings: Tinkler (87) unsporting behaviour, Nelson (93) foul.
• Attendance: 5,443.
• Fan's View: Arthur Weekes (Peacehaven).

An Albion related mini-break to the north east results in two clean sheets over 90 minutes and a hard-earned point against a team who will be in the shake-up come the end of the season.

We matched Hartlepool in every department and coped with the loss of Danny Cullip. It is always worrying for Albion whenever the team lose their very own Captain Marvel.

The Albion squad appears to have no real depth therefore, with ongoing injuries, Steve Coppell must be given the funds to go back into the loan market.

Otherwise a promising start could peter out into a season of mid-table mediocrity.