Adam Lallana explains why Brighton's second half at Southampton was opposite of Leicester

Adam Lallana adds guile and composure to Albion's midfield

Albion were excellent in the second half at St Mary's and Leo Trossard's sublime 56th minute strike sealed three deserved points for Graham Potter's team.

Lallana, 32, played a key role in the winner and was influential for Brighton throughout the 90 minutes against his former club, where he established himself before a £25m move to Liverpool.

Brighton's summer signing played in a slightly deeper role and added extra control to Albion's midfield. It was Lallana's clever through ball into Danny Welbeck, who in turn found Trossard with a perfectly placed cushioned first time touch, that allowed the Belgian to emphatically power home the winner.

It was just reward for Brighton after Lewis Dunk's first half header had been cancelled out but Che Adams' equaliser.

It was also a vast improvement on the previous week where Albion played well in the first half against Leicester but a poor second half display saw Brendan Rodgers take all three points from the Amex.

“The difference in the second half compared to last week was that we weren’t passive," said Lallana.

"We went looking for more goals and we did the dirty part of football when we had too as well. I thought our second-half performance was really professional.

“It’s a massive three points. In the last two-three weeks we have performed to a reasonably high level which would normally be enough to get us more points than we did,” he said.

“The challenge now is to sustain the levels in the remaining ten games, starting against Newcastle on Saturday.”

Lallana's contribution has been clear to see of late and keeping him fit will be key to Albion's bid to avoid the drop.

“It’s never easy to go to a new club and make an impact straight away," said Lallana, who joined on a free transfer from Liverpool last summer.

"Since coming back after being ill with COVID-19 I have had five-six weeks of good training and I’m starting to perform at a level I am happy with.

“More importantly the team are playing well and creating chances. We enjoyed Sunday’s game but the focus now is on Newcastle which is another important game for us.”