'Didn't quite happen' – Glenn Murray and Peter Crouch agree on Brighton's major weakness ahead of transfer deadline

Albion sank to their first defeat of the Premier League season away to Marco Silva's newly promoted Fulham at Craven Cottage on Tuesday night.

Graham Potter named no recognised striker in Albion's starting XI, with the in form but injury prone Welbeck dropping to the bench and Leandro Trossard deployed in a false nine position in a 3-4-2-1, a tactic which has proved successful before.

However, the tactical switch left Albion looking blunt in attack.

Former Albion hitman and BT Sport pundit Glenn Murray said the false nine 'didn't quite work' and that Albion missed Welbeck and his runs into the channels.

"Mwepu was doing it at times [running into channels] but Danny [Welbeck] does it instantly and that then gives your no.10 space to turn and influence the game, and it just didn't happen," said Murray.

At the same time as Brighton were struggling going forward, Fulham were exploiting space in behind Albion's wingbacks, which forced Potter to match Silva's 4-2-3-1 formation after 10 minutes.

Murray described Potter's move to a back four as a 'masterstroke'.

"Listen, he [Potter] did a great little masterstroke earlier on and went to a [back] four and he sort of took the sting out of Fulham's progress early on, which was a masterstroke, really. But then from that point on his players weren't quite at it tonight."

At 2-1 down, Potter finally rolled the dice and brought on the dangerous trio of Welbeck, Kaoru Mitoma and Tariq Lamptey in the 63rd minute in search of an equaliser.

Peter Crouch said Brighton looked 'a lot more of a threat' following the triple substitution.

"I thought Danny Welbeck gave them that [threat]. They definitely improved after the three substitutions. Lamptey as well, when he came on was very lively down the right hand side. And Danny Welbeck just gives them that little bit extra," said the former Liverpool striker.

Murray, focusing on the positives, said Potter will be pleased with the way his team reacted to going 2-0 down.

"One thing Graham Potter will take out of this performance is his team's reaction to going 2-0 down. They got back into the game with a penalty and they knocked on the door for the last 10 minutes and asked questions of Fulham," said Murray.

"It wasn't to be tonight but I think when he [Potter] is away from the emotion of the evening he will be quite pleased with his players' reaction."

Murray ended his analysis with a positive, saying: "It's steady progress [at Albion] and they'll continue on that upward momentum."