Buzz surrounds Hughton's Amex bow against the Bees

Chris Hughton will take his seat in the home dug-out at the Amex for the first time today(Saturday) hoping his team can serve up a repeat performance from the 2-0 away win enjoyed in his first Brighton game.

Hughton masterminded a welcome FA Cup victory at Brentford's Griffin Park on his Albion managerial debut and the Seagulls followed that triumph up with another impressive away win at Charlton Athletic last weekend.

Those results made it three away wins on the bounce for Brighton, achieved without conceding a goal, and the Albion faithful will be looking to the Seagulls to continue that run when they meet fifth placed Brentford for the second time in three games.

The Albion were, in truth, relatively fortunate to come away from Griffin Park with a win. Brentford dominated for long spells but their chances of progressing were thwarted by a combination of superb goalkeeping from David Stockdale, some last-ditch defending from the Seagulls back four and an array of wasteful finishing from their attacking players.

That said the win which secured a mouth-watering money-spinning Fourth Round clash with Arsenal was well-earned by an improving and increasingly-organised Albion team who took their chances and defended with an impressive stoicism.

Stockdale, in particular, has been in excellent form of late in the Albion goal, while Lewis Dunk has continued his emergence as a top central defender alongside Gordon Greer.

Hughton has the Albion organised and competitive, if not quite yet at their free-flowing best. Central to that improvement has been the midfield form of Rohan Ince and Danny Holla who should continue their blossoming double-act in the Albion engine room tomorrow.

Jake Forster-Caskey, who produced one of his best performances of the season against Charlton, and Joao Teixeira will compete for the central creative role ahead of Ince and Holla, while Adrian Colunga could be recalled in place of Sam Baldock on the left.

Craig Mackail-Smith may not be scoring the goals fans hope for, but the striker's tireless running is stretching opposition defences and creating more space for the likes of Teixeira and Solly March to thrive in.

Brentford's main threat will again come from Andre Gray, who has nine league goals to his name but somehow managed to draw a blank against Brighton in the cup game. He has not scored in his last four games but remains a worry for defences, particularly when running with the ball at his feet.

In Alan Judge, Brentford boast one of the division's most-creative players. He is currently second in the assists table with eight set-ups. Twenty-one-year-old Alex Pritchard is not far behind with five assists as well as for goals.

At the other end, 6ft 3in 22-year-old centre half James Tarkowski has been in excellent form.

LIKELY LINE-UP: Stockdale, Calderon, Dunk, Greer, Bennett, Holla, Ince, Forster-Caskey, Colunga, March, Mackail-Smith.

LIKELY SUBS: Walton, Hughes, Halford, Bruno, Teixeira, Baldock, O'Grady.