Wolves blog: Brighton are a team Paul Lambert should try and emulate

They are on the brink of promotion, twelve points above third-placed Huddersfield with five games to go, writes Wolves blogger Tom Tracey.

Huddersfield have a game in hand, against Wolves, but if Brighton can win at Molineux they are all but in the top flight for the first time since the early eighties.

They have been in the top two positions since October, and have only lost back-to-back games twice this season.

Since their promotion from League One in 2011, they have been patient but fairly consistent. Their first season saw them finish tenth before finishing in the play-offs three of the following four seasons.

Only in 2014/15 have they struggled as Sami Hyypia was replaced by current manager Chris Hughton in December 2014. They managed to avoid relegation by six points, finishing 20th.

This season they have remained toe-to-toe with heavyweights Newcastle, who have spent big. By contrast, Brighton broke their transfer record to sign defender Shane Duffy for a comparatively low £4.5m from Blackburn in the summer.

While they have regularly spent money, they have been much more consistent over several seasons than the likes of Derby, who have thrown money around without success.

In Chris Hughton, they have the third longest-serving manager in the league. Their stadium, which owner Tony Bloom invested a reported £93m into, has attracted an average attendance of nearly 28,000 this year, and more than 25,000 over the previous four seasons.

They have not sold any of their key players in the last two seasons, and have signed wisely.

Anthony Knockaert had been part of Leicester City’s successful Championship-winning side, but fell out of favour in the Premier League and moved to Standard Liege.

Brighton brought him back to England and he has been a key player for them, being named this season’s Championship Player of the Year.

When Wolves achieved a record points total to finish outside the playoffs in 2014/15, they produced promotion-winning form for the second half of the season. A lot of the success was down to the attacking trio of Dicko, Afobe and Sako.

Having multiple regular goal scorers is often the key to success, and Wolves have not had this since that lethal attack, which was split up prematurely by Sako’s departure that summer. Had Wolves retained Sako, Afobe may not have left and this would have given Wolves arguably the best attack in the league.

Brighton have spread the goals around this season. Glenn Murray has 21, Tomer Hemed has 14, Knockaert has 13 and Sam Baldock has scored a dozen.

The East Sussex club will be many teams’ template for progress in the Championship, but Wolves’ opponents on Monday, Leeds, have also had a great season by recent standards.

They have consistently been a bottom half club with plenty of off-the-field distractions, but Garry Monk has put them in a great position to reach the playoffs this season.

They have spent a bit over the last two years, but their key signing has been ex-Wolves target Chris Wood, who has scored 27 goals this season.

While both Brighton and Leeds have had great seasons, it is Brighton that Wolves should look to emulate as a model of stability and consistency. But this weekend, it would be nice to poop on the Seagulls’ promotion party.