Zeshan Rehman made the kind of debut of which dreams are made as makeshift Albion marched to their first away League victory since the opening day of the season.

The tall 19-year-old, drafted in on a month's loan from Fulham in the midst of a lengthening injury crisis, proved to be a real midfield gem against the Diamonds.

Rehman, adopting the role normally filled by Simon Rodger, capped an accomplished performance with a wonder strike with 13 minutes remaining to guarantee a remarkable win.

He exchanged passes with Chris McPhee to curl a majestic right-foot curler beyond the diving Billy Turley from 20 yards.

The below-strength Seagulls were without seven players, Darius Henderson (calf) joining a casualty list which already included Rodger, captain Danny Cullip, Charlie Oatway, Paul Watson, Ben Roberts and Dean Blackwell.

Boss Steve Coppell, demonstrating once again his knack of making loan signings who make a difference, said: "The 16 we had is more or less the 16 we had left and when you think Jake (Robinson) is only 16 as well it is a particularly trying time for us.

"Gary Hart got injured in the final stages as well and I think he is going to be struggling to be available for Saturday, so that is another very important cog that might be missing."

Coppell will take stock after Saturday's home game against Blackpool.

Considering all the headaches he has and the congested programme of late, he must be delighted to be next-to-top, with ten points taken from the last 12 and a hat-trick of matches looming at fortress Withdean.

Neat Nene Park is not an easy place to win at, even though Rushden were themselves badly hit by injuries and the absence of their talismanic top scorer Onandi Lowe.

Only Coppell's old club Brentford had gone away from the Third Division champions with maximum points this year.

But Albion are made of stern stuff, a fact highlighted by the amazing rejuvenation of Guy Butters. Out-of-favour last season, the 33-year-old stopper has grabbed his opportunity with a series of sound displays.

Butters made a mockery of odds of 40-1 to score the first goal. He lashed in a left-foot shot from close range after Kerry Mayo headed on a Nathan Jones corner to give Albion a deserved lead four minutes from the break.

The bookies should have known better than to be so generous. It was Butters' second goal in the last four away games in the League after scoring at Plymouth.

Rehman and Leon Knight had already forced Turley into saves by then and McPhee, deputising for Henderson, was unfortunate to have a goal disallowed for offside when the busy keeper failed to hold a shot from Nathan Jones.

Butters had cause to thank Michel Kuipers for a fine reflex stop when he inadvertently directed a downward header by Barry Hunter towards his own net from close range, the only scare of the first half for the Seagulls.

His goal ended an away famine for Albion spanning nearly six hours, but within four minutes of the resumption they had controversially conceded their first League goal for almost as long.

Rodney Jack, racing onto a pass from Gary Mills, was brought down by Robbie Pethick.

Pethick and several of his team-mates protested it was outside the box but ref David Crick pointed to the spot.

Stuart Gray, son of Leeds legend Eddie, hit a post with a penalty against Stockport last Saturday. He made no mistake this time, sending Kuipers the wrong way.

Coppell, normally so calm, lost his temper with the linesman. He was ordered from the dugout by Crick for the first time in his managerial career, which could lead to a touchline ban.

"Whether it was a penalty or not, the ref was half the distance away and he looked at the linesman to make the decision for him," Coppell said. "That's what I was upset about.

"When the linesman came back for the kick-off I felt an awful lot of good, hard work had almost gone to waste. I apologised to the linesman afterwards, so we will see how it goes."

Coppell's problems didn't finish there. He was told by stewards to stay in his seat in the stand, instead of walking up and down to relay instructions. He needn't have worried. The players soon gave him reason to smile.

Parity lasted just four minutes for Rushden, Knight restoring Albion's advantage with a superb solo effort.

Collecting possession midway inside Rushden territory, he ran at Andy Edwards and left him floundering before firing a rising left-foot drive past Turley into the roof of the net, his eighth of the season.

Knight also had a shot cleared off the line by Marcus Bignot, but it wasn't quite all one-way traffic.

Kuipers made a vital save when the score was 2-1, twisting to turn Gray's powerful header from a Bignot cross over the bar.

Coppell said: "The back four were solid and the goalkeeper was good on crosses. We were hard working when we had to be and we always looked dangerous on the break. I can't think of one player who was a weak link."

  • ALBION (4-4-2): Kuipers (gk) 8; Mayo (lb) 7, Pethick (cd) 6, Knight (f) 8, Hart (rm) 7, Carpenter (cm) 7, Butters (cd) 8, Jones (lm) 7, McPhee (f) 7, Hinshelwood (rb) 7, Rehman (cm) 9. Subs: Virgo, Piercy for Hart (injured 85), Harding, Flitney, Robinson.
  • Scorers: Butters (41), Knight (53), Rehman (77).
  • Booking: Hart (56, foul).
  • RUSHDEN & DIAMONDS: (4-4-2): Turley; Bignot, Underwood, Mills, Edwards, Hunter, Jack, Darby, Gray, Bell, Hall. Subs: Dempster, Sambrook for Mills (withdrawn 85), Talbot for Jack (withdrawn 85), Kitson for Bell (withdrawn 63), Story.
  • Scorer: Gray (49, penalty)
  • Booking: Edwards (31, foul).
  • Half-Time: Rushden 0 Albion 1.
  • Attendance: 4,634.
  • Fan's View: Adrian Kennedy (Worthing).

It was a great performance. I would have settled for a point before we started out without Danny Cullip and all the other injured players.

The players were a credit to the club. Against a very useful side we looked very comfortable and thoroughly deserved the win.

With our injured players back and a couple of new additions this league is ours for the taking.

It was another long trip on the road after the journey to Hartlepool on Saturday but it was certainly worth all the effort.

A great evening and I think we'll get stronger from here. Up the Albion!