Brighton and Hove Albion have had an outstanding season under the inspired leadership of Chris Hughton, recovering from fighting relegation last year to fighting for the Sky Bet Championship title this time around.

After losing Leonardo Ulloa to Leicester City at the start of last season, they struggled to replace him, and their inability to score goals saw them go through a series of managers and only just stave off relegation.

But Hughton came in at the end of last season and has built a good squad on a small budget, bringing in the likes of Tomer Hemed, who has proven to be the man scoring the goals Ulloa did.

Also, the midfield has been excellent for Brighton, with Beram Kayal and Dale Stephens in the middle of the park providing the beating heart of the Brighton side. The wingers alongside them, Jamie Murphy and Kazenga LuaLua, have also been outstanding.

The big improvement has been the defence though.

Lewis Dunk has been one of the best centre backs in the Championship after surviving claims he was going to Fulham in the summer transfer window, but he stayed and has formed a great partnership with Gordon Greer at the back.

Hemed's 13 goals and the solid backline has led Brighton to third position with just seven games left, with them punching majorly above their weight. It would be an astonishing achievement if Hughton can take them up.

FootballLeagueWorld writer Michael Hasan identifies the THREE best moments of Brighton's season so far...

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PRESS THE IMAGE BELOW TO SEE THE 3 BEST MOMENTS!

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Great transfer windows

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The major success that Hughton has had at Brighton this season is doing what other Brighton managers have failed to do, and that's signing some great players in the window.

The big task for him is being the man that replaced Ulloa who had led Brighton to the play-offs in previous seasons with his goals.

He brought in Hemed from La Liga and his 13 goals have done exactly that.

Kayal under Hughton has turned into one of the best midfielders in the league and the Brighton backline, which was awful last season, is now very well organised.

He has also made use of the loan window, with the addition of striker James Wilson and midfielder Anthony Knockaert bolstering their attacking options for the run-in.

Basically, he has transformed the Brighton squad despite paying very little.

21 game undefeated streak

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The most impressive run of Brighton's season came at the very start, with them going on an unbelievable undefeated streak of 21 games.

It all started with an opening 1-0 success over Nottingham Forest, but not even Brighton fans could surely have foreseen what was about to happen.

Brighton went to the top of the table as they failed to lose their next 20 games, beating fellow promotion contenders and garnering good away points at tough grounds.

This tough mental resilience will serve them well in the run-in, but their 3-0 defeat to Middlesbrough that ended the streak was expected to destroy their challenge for promotion.

Resilience to streak ending

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After they lost heavily at home to Middlesbrough to end their 21 game unbeaten streak, they followed it up with losses to Ipswich Town, Wolves and Rotherham United, and people who thought Brighton were punching above their weight figured that they would drop off the pace completely.

But they have fought back remarkably, with only one more defeat since early January to Cardiff City.

They have got right back in the promotion mix.

They find themselves in third, just one point behind Middlesbrough, and set for an important run-in where they will play Aitor Karanka's side. This resilient run included thumping wins against Leeds United, Brentford and Bristol City.

Brighton fans... do you agree? Are these your best moments of the season? Is the best moment still yet to come? Let us know your thoughts and opinions in the comments below!