WE HAVE COME SO FAR IN SUCH A SHORT SPACE OF TIME, IT FEELS SURREAL

From training at a local university and playing at a temporary home ground to playing with EIGHT World Cup players and now heading for European football, (and of course thrashing Liverpool a fortnight ago) Dunk has seen it all with Brighton

LEWIS DUNK is the one-club legend who probably has to pinch himself when he sees the transformation at Brighton.

Dunk captains a team that contains a World Cup winner and eight team-mates who played in Qatar, as well as having a new manager ready to take them to the next level.

Boss Roberto De Zerbi masterminded the 3-0 win over Liverpool earlier this month and Brighton will be looking to repeat one of the club’s best days in the FA Cup at the

Amex tomorrow.

Alexis Mac Allister (with Dunk, right) was a hero in

Argentina’s World

Cup success and his return has coincided with a run of form which has lifted Seagulls into the European places.

Dunk says Italian boss De Zerbi (congratulating his big defender, top, after another win) is pushing the players with his methods and his message is getting through.

Brighton defender Dunk said: “The gaffer has been superb from the moment he walked in the building. He captured a lot of us, especially me, the first time he spoke to us.

“It was through a translator and you’ve got to say some powerful things to get that message through a translator! The main thing is his passion. You can see it on the sidelines, on the training pitch, and in meetings. His passion for the game is nothing like I’ve seen before.

“I hope he can push us on again. The season’s long, we’ve been consistently excellent and performed well in every game. That’s the key: consistency. That’s why the top teams are there – they know how to win and are consistent at doing it.”

Brighton are now an example of how a Premier League club should be run. Brilliant stadium, magnificent training ground, superb recruitment.

They also have a World Cup winner in Mac Allister. When he returned to the club, he was greeted as a hero with a tickertape reception at the training ground that brought to mind the 1978 World Cup in Argentina.

Dunk (with Mirror Sport’s John Cross, below) said: “It feels surreal at times. From training at the university, then Withdean, and then to this.

“Having a World Cup winner in the squad, and many other top talents, shows that we have gone step by step to become a massive club. We had eight players at the

World Cup.

“If you’d asked me four or five years ago, when we’d just got promoted to the Premier League, if that was possible ....

“It’s credit to the club and also the boys who earned their places there. Alexis was incredible. The best thing about it is that he’s such a humble kid, what a player he is – it really couldn’t happen to a nicer person.”

Local boy Dunk is enjoying some of the best form of his career at Brighton, who will need to reach the same levels they showed against Liverpool earlier this month (below) to beat them again in the FA Cup.

But, having reached the semifinals four years ago, Dunk admits they would love another crack at going to Wembley in the FA Cup. Their last appearance in the final was 40 years ago.

Dunk added: “If we can reach the semi-final this year then hopefully we can go one step further. If you want to win the FA Cup then you have to beat teams like Liverpool.

“If you want to win it you have to beat the best and that’s why it’s such a difficult game.

“It’s not long ago that they came here and we beat them. I think they’ll have some extra fight at the weekend so we will have to step up another level if we want to stand a chance of doing it again.”