Brighton vs Burnley was a grim watch at £15...but this Albion player is reason for optimism

At times watching Brighton vs Burnley last night was a bit of a grind. If you were one of the Albion fans who parted with £14.95 for the privilege, perhaps you are scratching around for few a positives.

Well, despite not being able to break through a grimly determined Burnley rear-guard, there are snippets of hope to cling to as Brighton head into the latest international break in a lowly 16th place with six points from eight matches.

Firstly, Ben White reverted back to the defence and aside from a few stray passes in the first half, he delivered a cultured display against the most physical of opponents in Ashley Barnes and Chris Wood.

White, who has played in midfield lately, is well known for classy defending but he also passed another Premier League test last night against a troublesome duo who have bullied and destroyed many top flight defenders over the past few seasons.

Danny Welbeck also gave a few encouraging glimpses of what he can offer the Brighton attack this season. Welbeck was handed his first start following his summer arrival after a hugely frustrating season at Watford.

Welbeck immediately offered Brighton a focal point in attack and despite a few injury hit seasons the former Man United man looked to have plenty of pace left in his legs.

He and Neal Maupay could prove a real handful for defenders this campaign and Welbeck admitted his finishing will also improve the more game time he has.

But probably the biggest positive was the performance of Adam Lallana, who completed back-to-back 90 minutes in the Premier League for the first time since his Liverpool days against Burnley and Man City in March 2017.

Lallana was excellent for Brighton. He looked fit, he was confident and skilful in possession and was unfortunate not to see at least one of his dangerous crosses buried by the strikers.

On another day the former England international would have walked away with a couple of assists to go with his man of the match award.

Albion head coach Graham Potter was heavily criticised for hauling Lallana off on 60 minutes during the 1-1 home draw against West Brom.

Brighton completely lost control of that match after Lallana's exit and subsequently dropped two valuable points as the Baggies levelled in the closing stages.

Potter was clearly projecting a player with a long history of injuries but later admitted he would re-assess and see if he could have pushed the 32-year-old further.

Since West Brom, Lallana played a full 90 in the narrow 2-1 loss at Spurs last Sunday and quickly recovered for another 90 minutes in the Friday evening kick-off.

The veteran will now no doubt put his aching feet up for a few days at least during the international break before he starts preparing his body for Brighton's next match at Aston Villa on Novermber 21.

"Really good news for Adam," said Potter after Burnley. "We have tried really hard to build him up and understand that he has come from Liverpool where he played a very different role to one he plays with us.

"That has taken a bit of consideration but credit to him he has settled with us really well and gives us a lot on the pitch and off.

"He will get better as he starts to understand his teammates more and more and his teammates understand him. Delighted for him."

Lallana was also happy with his contribution but felt the stalemate against Sean Dyhce's struggling team was an opportunity missed.

“It’s frustrating and it’s small margins in this league," said Lallana. "We have got to turn the good performances into results.

"You can’t help but look at the table and think we should have three or four more points.”

Albion kept their first clean sheet in seven games but couldn’t find a way past Clarets’ keeper Nick Pope despite a man of the match performance by Lallana.

“It pretty much feels like a missed opportunity, we should be winning games like that at home.

“We had a number of good chances and their goalkeeper made a couple of good saves, but we probably could have worked him a little bit more.

“It’s important that we look for signs where we can keep improving. It’s a long season, but we can look at where we can get better and put that in place for our next game.”