CALVIN Andrew has hailed Russell Slade for installing the fighting spirit which has given Albion fresh hope of staying up.

The Seagulls were slipping meekly towards League Two when Slade took over the reins following the departure of Micky Adams in March.

The initial signs did not look too positive as Albion picked up just four points from Slade’s first seven games in charge to slip closer to the trapdoor.

But the former Yeovil boss has slowly turned things around at Withdean with four wins in the last five games lifting the Seagulls out of the bottom four for the first time since February.

Andrew was back at Crystal Palace recovering from a hamstring injury when Slade was given the task of saving the Seagulls.

The on-loan forward admits he has noticed a huge change in attitude at the club since returning to the South Coast two weeks ago.

Andrew, who played under Slade during a loan spell at Grimsby four years ago, said: “We have shown different qualities which I don’t think we had when I was at the club before my injury.

“There is some real resilience now and that was there to see with the way we defended on Tuesday night. It showed a lot of character to come back from behind in the position we are in and I think that is something we have acquired over the last couple of games.

“I know Russell Slade quite well and he asks all of his teams to show some grit when the going gets tough. He demands you stick in there when you are struggling and keep going an that’s what we did at Bristol.

“We are out of the bottom four and that will give us confidence going into the last two games. We can’t afford to get too far ahead of ourselves, though, because there are still two games to go and we’ve got to finish the job.”

It did not look likely Andrew would get the chance to work with Slade again after tearing a hamstring against his former club Luton back in February.

The 22-year-old was sent back to Selhurst Park to recover and the chances of him returning to boost Albion’s survival fight seemed slim.

He made a remarkable recovery, though, and his return has coincided with Albion’s revival.

Andrew has come off the bench in the last four games, three of which have been wins but could start in the crucial clash at Huddersfield on Saturday.

The 22-year-old scored the winner at Bristol Rovers on Tuesday after replacing the injured Dean Cox before half-time and would love to add to his tally of two goals to repay the Albion fans who have made him feel so welcome.

Andrew said: “When I initially had the injury my fear was that I wouldn’t play again this season.

“I had a very bad tear in two places in the hamstring and was told it would take a very long time to repair.

“Fortunately I seem to recover pretty quickly and I am glad because I want to play a part in helping Albion stay up.

“It means a lot for me that Brighton stay up even though I am only on loan. I have been made to not only feel part of the team but part of the town and it would be awful to go down.

“The supporters have been great and welcomed me even though I am from a rival team so it is my duty to give 110%. Just because I am on loan doesn’t make any difference.

“I would love to add to my tally while I am here from a personal point of view but the most important thing is we get the results we need to stay up.

“Hopefully I am pushing for a start on Saturday now. I have not played much football since my injury so it was good to get some minutes under my belt on Tuesday.”