Matthew Upson has been Brighton’s rock in the heart of defence – and he’s been making his mark in the opposition penalty area as well.
Finding a way past the former England centre-back is one of the challenges facing Town on the South coast on Saturday.
The 34-year-old has played every minute of every Championship game since signing from Stoke, initially on loan, last January.
And the former Luton, Arsenal, Birmingham and West Ham man has netted twice in his last three outings, heading the late winner at Middlesbrough last Saturday.
That lifted the Seagulls to eighth, and whether partnered by Gordon Greer, who has been out with a calf injury, or Adam El-Abd, Upson is enjoying his football.
“I’ve got to a stage where I need to enjoy what I do,” said Upson, who has made 40 appearances for Albion in all.
“I wasn’t playing and there were times at Stoke when I wasn’t getting the level of enjoyment that I should have out of my football at that stage of my career.
“I have come here and it’s been a breath of fresh air for me. I’m really enjoying it. Football is about what you are doing in the here and now.
“You can’t live on past achievements or form. There wasn’t an appetite from a Premier League club to want to take me and play me in the team.
“I was more than happy to come to Brighton, which has the structure of a Premier League club but finds itself in the Championship.
“It’s striving to be a Premier League club and that’s important to me. I want to help take them there.”
Brighton, beaten only once in nine games, are two points off the play-off zone and four places and five points higher than Town.
