Sussex

Former Brighton defender Mark Lawrenson says his Brighton manager Alan Mullery described him as "a Lamborghini in the garage".

In 1977, Mullery paid £100,000 for 19-year-old Lawrenson, who then made more than 150 appearances over four years with the Seagulls.

In Lawrenson's final season at Brighton, he was part of the team which held Manchester United to a 2-2 draw at Old Trafford in the third round of the FA Cup - the last time those teams were drawn against each other at that stage of the competition before this season.

"It was a big scalp," said Lawrenson, whose abiding memory is of fans queueing around the block for tickets to the home replay, which Brighton lost 2-0.

Image source, Getty Images

It was a memorable moment amid a period on which Lawrenson looks back with fondness.

"I loved it," Lawrenson told the Albion Unlimited podcast of his time at Brighton. "I grew up, in many different ways. It was fab.

"I got on great with Mullers [manager Alan Mullery] - the lads used to give me stick because I was his pet.

"Mullers was talking about me and he said 'he was a useless trainer, he was lazy' and I couldn't really disagree.

"He said it's like having a Lamborghini in the garage and every Saturday or Tuesday night - if that's when the game was – this fella came out and he played like a Lamborghini!"

Listen to the full episode here

Explore all Brighton content on BBC Sounds

Listen to every Brighton game live on BBC Radio Sussex, with all the build-up and full commentary with Johnny Cantor and Warren Aspinall, and there is a full preview of all Seagulls' matches on Fridays at 18:00 in The Weekend Warm-up

Former Brighton defender Mark Lawrenson says he "loved" his time at the club and that the Seagulls were "clever" in how they managed his departure.

Lawrenson spent four years with the club from 1977-1981, before joining Liverpool.

You can here more on the clip above or listen to Lawrenson on the latest episode of Albion Unlimited.

You can access that here

Explore all Brighton content on BBC Sounds

Listen to every Brighton game live on BBC Radio Sussex, with all the build-up and full commentary with Johnny Cantor and Warren Aspinall, and there is a full preview of all Seagulls' matches on Fridays at 18:00 in The Weekend Warm-up

BBC Radio Sussex reporter Johnny Cantor believes that Charalampos Kostoulas is playing himself into contention for a place in Brighton's starting 11.

The 18-year-old impressed in his substitute appearance against West Ham, and forced a smart save from Alphonse Areola on an afternoon on which Brighton struggled to hit the target.

Since signing in June, the Greek forward has made six Premier League appearances from the bench for Brighton, scoring a late goal at Manchester United, but is yet to make his full league debut.

Image source, Getty Images

"I thought he livened things up," said Cantor, speaking on the Albion Unlimited podcast. "Keen to shoot, nice close control.

"He protects the ball really well. He's not the biggest of players, and he's only young, of course, but he doesn't seem to lose the ball in possession that much.

"His body positioning is really good. He's alert and quite creative.

"I think he will be pushing to be involved from the start soon."

Listen to the full episode here

Explore all Brighton content on BBC Sounds

Listen to every Brighton game live on BBC Radio Sussex, with all the build-up and full commentary with Johnny Cantor and Warren Aspinall, and there is a full preview of all Seagulls' matches on Fridays at 18:00 in The Weekend Warm-up