Brighton suffered back-to-back defeats in the Premier League and Carabao Cup before their league fixture against Manchester City at the weekend.

However, Yasin Ayari's goal and the Seagulls' defence proved to be the difference as City were unable to find a way past Bart Verbruggen in the 1-0 victory.

Former Brighton forward Warren Aspinall, speaking on the Albion Unlimited podcast, said: "Defending starts from the front. This season they have done it brilliantly, they're pressing and hassling the opposition.

"It is a team effort, but the goalkeeper and the defenders will get all the credit.

"Winning is a habit. They have that habit of winning games, and it breeds confidence.

"It is rubbing off on each other's shoulders."

So far, Dutch goalkeeper Verbruggen has conceded seven goals and kept six clean sheets in the league.

The 24-year-old is already well on track to surpass the 10 clean sheets the Seagulls recorded last season.

"Clean sheets win you titles, not scoring loads of goals.

"If you can get a goalkeeper that keeps so many clean sheets, then the keeper will save you somewhere between 16 and 18 points a season," added Aspinall.

Boss Fabian Hurzeler will now look to take the high-flying Premier League form into the Conference League as Brighton travel to Getafe to face the La Liga side on Thursday at the Estadio Coliseum (20:00 GMT).

Listen below or on BBC Sounds here - and don't forget to subscribe to get each episode into your My Sounds feed.

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