Ian Hart / Is Brighton head coach Graham Potter getting the credit he deserves?

Could anyone have even contemplated that at the time of the Albion’s Premier League visit to Old Trafford they would not only be above the Red Devils in the table but also Tottenham Hotspur?

When I question a local Spurs fan, he was quick to retort the usual, early days, it’s a marathon not a sprint, tortoise and the hare, etc, etc, etc.

Point taken, and to be fair never mind Southampton giving a day’s wages to charity after the 9-0 demolition at home to Leicester, if Brighton were to finish above Spurs in the table at the end of the season, the entire Tottenham management and squad should be required to forfeit a year’s wages to their chosen charity.

But "false position" or not, is Graham Potter really getting the credit for the clear progress that is being made on the pitch?

In the national media, clearly not. Three home games, eight goals, two clean sheets, nine points, yet after all three games, the nationals concentrated more on the respective shortcomings and failings of Spurs, Everton and Norwich than the fact that all three were beaten by the better team on the day.

I’m not backtracking because I was a huge advocate of Chris Hughton, but every man has his time, and a change was needed, I’m still not comfortable with the way it was done, but that’s history now.

Graham Potter has restored mine and thousands of other Albion Mojos, attacking, exciting football, clearly not the finished article, but never the less there is an air of excitement reverberating around the Amex when the Albion attack.

There will be many more bumps in the road to come, but Potter’s Albion play with an air of belief and confidence, we’ve not seen at Brighton in recent teams.

Which brings me on to this Sunday’s visit to Old Trafford, a good time to take on United?

The form book would suggest so, arguably the biggest club in the world are in a transitional period, which I’m hoping the current manager at Old Trafford is given time to develop young talent rather than end up another managerial statistic.

But Albion travel north, with a real belief that this is not one of those games they can’t expect anything out of. With all due respect, everyone could call what Potter’s predecessor would have done...line-up for a draw and hope perhaps for the rub of the green.

Not so this Albion team, and that’s why I firmly believe the Albion can return home Sunday night with at least a point, but prediction wise I’m going for a United 1-2 Albion score line.

On the flip side of predictions, I got the rugby one wrong and by some margin! But I wont fall into the national media trap and go on about England’s failings last Saturday morning.

Did England peak seven days earlier with the emphatic win over the All Blacks? Maybe, maybe not, there were quite simply beaten by the better team on the day, and clearly a team fitting of the title World Champions.

A great day for the country of South Africa but also a landmark day for the sport of rugby globally