Albion tweaked their defensive game after a tough afternoon at Chelsea.

They have dropped a bit deeper and looked a bit more secure for significant periods at Newcastle and Liverpool.

Managers always talking about “having to learn” after a poor game and you sometimes wonder whether such talk is cheap.

But it appears there has been some learning going on. And a lot of talking.

Liverpool and Newcastle are always likely to have periods of danger, especially at home, and we have seen that on the Seagulls’ subsequent travels.

But Joel Veltman, a key man in the defensive operation, can see progress.

He said: “We trained a lot in the pre-season with the high line.

“When he is going to play the ball, you have to drop.

“When he is looking down at the pitch and not playing it, you can hold the line.

“We adjusted that a bit as in you need protect the space more.

“Let’s say (Cole) Palmer, when he got the ball at the side, he whipped it in at once.

“Sometimes you don’t know when the ball is coming into the space so you need to protect yourself.

“Just go a bit lower and then move forward.

“If they have the ball in front of you, you can always press them.

“If they are running in behind you, then you have a problem.

“So a bit more protecting yourself as a defender.”

Of course one does not want to tempt fate ahead of a trip to a Bournemouth side who pose their own test.

They are fifth in the Premier League for expected goals this season although their actual tally of 15 falls four short of that figure.

But, asked if they have felt a little more secure of late, Veltman said: “A bit more, yes.

“As a defender if you have the guy in front of you with the ball, that’s fine.

“You can press him, midfielders come from the other side.

“But loads of attackers in the Premier League have pace.

“And, if they are running in behind you and have the ball one-versus-one with the goalkeeper, it is 99% a goal.

“In that case we have to protected ourselves as a defender a bit more.

“We had loads of meetings about it and we have a good feeling of how we do it now.”

Head coach Fabian Hurzeler probably had his most uncomfortable period as Albion head coach so far in the week after that Chelsea game and then the opening 45 at home to Tottenham.

Asked about Stamford Bridge, he told The Argus: “Of course we learn from that game. In general, we learn from every game.

“In this season, it is a lot about defending together as a team, it is a lot about having the right game management “It’s a lot about what do we need to win games?

“Although we are a quite young squad, I want especially the young players that they grow in this role fast and fast.

“Therefore, we need to have this process of learning.

“What we changed was that we maybe adapted a little bit our last line, so we didn’t play that high anymore.

“Of course, we still tried to be a very compact team in a high line, in a low block “But there are still a lot of improvements to do.

“And, in the end, for me it is very important that the players are very convinced on the pitch.

“And that is the main thing we try to focus on, so I try to listen to them, I try to be open for their ideas.

“How they feel on the pitch, how they defend together, what they might improve.

“What they might feel we have to do better.

“These are all things we can learn from and I think it is very important to every time focus on the process because then you can learn from games like Chelsea, then you can also learn from games like Wolverhampton.

“If you don’t learn from this, then you will do the same mistakes twice and that is what we don’t want to do.”