Time stood still when Albion played Bournemouth on Sunday.

Okay. Not really. It just felt like that on occasions.

The clock was ticking and the ball was in play when Bart Verbruggen stood motionless with it at his feet.

Just as many of the outfield players ahead of him were also motionless.

It felt like a footballing version of chess and the temporary stalemate infuriated a crowd who had seen the challenge set before, without everything grinding to a halt.

Albion defender Adam Webster has revealed what went wrong and – more importantly – how it was put right during an animated changing room scene at half-time.

Helped by the jump start of an own goal right on the interval, the Seagulls put things right in the second period and accelerated to a 3-1 win.

Webster, back in the side after a three-game absence, has been key to Albion playing out from the back and was given plenty of early touches They had to be patient when passing out from the back and into midfield.

But it was when the ball went to the keeper that things really stalled.

Webster said: “They went man-for-man and, when that happens, we need to use the front four players that we have.

“It all comes down to timing and we didn’t quite have that in the first half.

“We changed a couple of things at half-time and it was better in the second half and we caused them a lot more problems from that.

“It’s for us to learn and take that into more games.

“Obviously, your tactics and the way you want to play are only part of the battle.

“You need to have that desire and that fight in you and maybe in the first half we didn’t quite have that.

“The gaffer didn’t say too much at half-time but obviously we changed a couple of things and then even the players who weren’t in the squad were driving us on.

“That is massive for us when you’ve got Pascal (Gross), Millie (James Milner), Steeley (Jason Steele) all driving us on, and that really helps.

“It shows the togetherness that we have.”

Webster said that half-time scene proved Albion have something special going on.

Roberto De Zerbi revealed recently that his style is not to speak for too long at the interval.

But there was plenty of animated chat going on in the inner sanctum during those few minutes.

Webster said: “Not just talking, shouting, as if they are playing, and that is brilliant for us.

“They are not thinking that they are not a part of it, they are with us every step of the way and that really gave us a kick up the bum at half-time and you could see that straight away in the second half.

“It helps when you score that quickly but it wasn’t even our kick-off, so it just goes to show how we had a reaction and it was big for us.”

Albion’s win was only their second under De Zerbi in the league after going 1-0 down, following the 2-1 success at Chelsea last season.

They also won from 1-0 down at Arsenal in the Carabao Cup and at home to Liverpool in the FA Cup.

And there was a 3-2 success at Wolves last year in which they scored first but then trailed 2-1.

Webster said: “We normally react after going behind.

“It’s frustrating we didn’t keep a clean sheet, and we still haven’t had one, which is disappointing, but mistakes can happen and it’s about how you react.

“The first half wasn’t up to the level we have set but in the second half we came out firing and that is really important.”

De Zerbi had no doubts over what the problem was for his side.

He said: “When we find the man-to-man situation, we have to play with attackers.

“Verbruggen is a great player. I think he can become one of the best goalkeepers in Europe.

“But he doesn’t know our style, our idea, totally. He knows but not enough.

“Evan Ferguson wasn’t in a big condition because he was ill two days ago, Adingra and Buonanotte are not used to playing in that situation.

“For that I explained why in the first half we suffered too much.

“In the same situation we played against Brentford last season.

“With Brentford we shot 24 times.”

Webster, meanwhile, is back and that can only be a plus for Albion, given what we have seen from him at his best in recent seasons.

Like others, he is aware there will be ups and downs – and times when he is not in the side.

He said: “I think everyone understands that the schedule is relentless and we’re probably not used to it.

“Everyone understands that we’ve got a really strong squad.

“Last weekend we beat (Manchester) United and JP (centre-back Jan Paul van Hecke) played amazing, Lallana, and they’ve not even played today.

“So it just goes to show that everyone is pushing everyone. We’re all together in there.

“It can easily go the other way but we’ve got such a good culture here that everyone is fighting for each other day in and day out.

“That’s half the battle at times.”