Luton's winless run on the road showed no signs of any improvement after a miserable afternoon at Brighton's Withdean Stadium.

The Hatters once again had their chances, but their fortunes in front of goal was the difference.

A brace from Nicky Forster and a first half strike from Ben Savage maintained Brighton's impressive run of form, and kept them in touch of the play-off pack.

For Luton, it was another bad day at the office, who got themselves back in the game through Dave Edwards after going two goals down.

But when Alan Goodall was sent off for a second yellow card, Luton's chances of picking up a point vanished.

With Paul Furlong ruled out through a hamstring injury, Hatters boss Kevin Blackwell was short of options in attack.

The responsibility of the lone striker fell on the shoulders of Calvin Andrew, with Dave Edwards continuing his role sitting slightly behind the front man.

But that was the only change to the Luton side which were narrowly beaten by Everton in the Carling Cup on Wednesday night.

Brighton, whose manager Dean Wilkins was nominated for the Manager of the Month award in October, made just one change to the side that beat Hartlepool with Bas Savage replacing the injured Alex Revell.

It took ten minutes for the first opening to arrive as Luton came inches away from taking the lead against the run of play.

Former Brighton man Darren Currie delivered an in swinging corner from the right which was met by a towering header from Jaroslaw Fojut, but the on-loan defender saw his effort crash off the crossbar.

Luton soon found their stride and Fojut was causing havoc in the Brighton penalty area with his, unseen before, long throws.

It was Currie's turn to try his luck from distance on 17 minutes as Luton began to boss the game in the Brighton half.

After collecting a pass from Matthew Spring, the midfielder blasted a right-footed effort from 25-yards that needed Brighton goalkeeper Michel Kuipers to palm away the shot.

Brighton had struggled to get into the Luton half, but after Dean Cox had a deflected shot go inches wide of the Hatters goal on 25 minutes, the home-side were soon looking likely to score.

And that arrived on 41 minutes as Luton were left sleeping at a Brighton free-kick when Tom Fraser's pinpoint ball into the area found the rising head of Savage, who guided his effort beyond the reach of Dean Brill as the ball cannoned off the inside of a post.

Luton should have responded immediately when two minutes later, David Bell sent in a cross from the right but the unmarked Spring sent a side-footed shot wide of the Brighton goal from six yards out.

AT HALF-TIME: BRIGHTON 1 V 0 LUTON

A scrappy opening to the second half saw little in terms of chances as both teams failed to make inroads past the defence.

But Bell should have done better on 60 minutes when a Currie corner was flicked on by Andrew and after Kuipers made a hash of the clearance the Hatters midfielder shot over from ten-yards.

Brighton should have extended their lead on 64 minutes, but Luton were thankful to Brill's impressive save.

After Savage robbed Chris Perry of possession down the right, the Brighton striker cut a pass back to Cox whose first time shot was kept out by Brill's low save to his left.

Blackwell tinkered with his side as Paul McVeigh was thrown into action, replacing Bell, but the substitution quickly backfired as Luton were soon two goals down.

Just two minutes after being introduced to the action himself, Forster put Brighton further in front on 69 minutes with his first touch of the game.

David Martot's cross from the right found the former Reading man and after cutting inside the challenge from Perry, he was given the freedom to tuck a shot past the stranded Brill.

But Luton refused to lay down and got back in the game with 11 minutes remaining as a cross from the right was headed into the area by Currie, and after Andrew picked out Edwards, the midfielder tucked the ball home from close range.

However, Luton's afternoon went from bad to worse as Goodall was dismissed for a second bookable offence after a rash challenge. And from the resulting free-kick, Brighton restored their two goal advantage as Jake Robinson's cross was headed home by Forster.

It capped another miserable afternoon for Luton

AT FULL TIME: BRIGHTON 3 V 1 LUTON

Brighton: Kuipers, Whing, El-Abd, Cox (Forster 67), Hammond, Savage, Robinson, Fraser (O'Callaghan 52), Elphick, Martot, Richards

Subs not used: Sullivan, Butters, Elder

Bookings:

Luton: Brill, Goodall, Perry, Coyne, Bell (McVeigh 67), Currie, Robinson, Edwards (Hutchison 80), Andrew (Jackson 80), Spring, Fojut

Subs not used: Morgan, O'Leary,

Bookings: Spring (62), Goodall (74 & 84)

Sent-Off: Goodall (84)

Referee: Mr Darren Deadman

Attendance: 5,317