Jack Hinshelwood and Lewis Dunk both scored headers inside the opening five minutes before Yankuba Minteh's fierce finish sealed the deal four minutes from time.

It marked the end of a positive week both on and off the field for the Seagulls, who saw boss Fabian Hurzeler commit his long-term future to the club by signing a new contract.

Hinshelwood needed just 35 seconds to open the scoring as he nodded Maxim De Cuyper's teasing cross home, after Andre had cheaply lost possession in his own half.

Brighton pulled further clear four minutes later with De Cuyper involved again. This time, his corner towards the back post was met by Dunk's towering header past Dan Bentley.

The hosts continued to dominate as Kaoru Mitoma and Danny Welbeck both went close, but Wolves improved after the break and hit the crossbar through Yerson Mosquera.

Mateus Mane then stung the palms of Bart Verbruggen as Wolves showed signs of life, but their hopes were extinguished four minutes from time by Minteh, who thundered the ball in at the near post after brilliantly skipping past Santiago Bueno.

Dunk has credited the leadership of James Milner after the match for helping Brighton to go from relegation candidate to European hopeful.

Hurzeler signed a new three-year deal earlier this week, but Dunk believes that in addition to the German, veteran midfielder Milner deserves credit for the club's turnaround.

"Milner had a massive impact.," he said.

"If you look at the team that the gaffer put out, we needed men to turn it around and Milner had a huge impact, understanding what the group needed. He was fundamental.

"The whole group stuck together, and now we're looking at Europe again.

"It's a mental season. One minute we're looking at relegation, and now we're talking about Europe. It's great fun, football, isn't it?"

Milner broke the Premier League's all-time appearance record in February, but was an unused substitute against Wolves and has been limited to just 719 minutes across 19 outings in the league this term, six of them starts.

Wolves, meanwhile, became just the second team to lose against every other side they have faced in a Premier League campaign, after Sheffield United in 2023-2024.

Boss Rob Edwards has been heavily criticised by the club's supporters in recent days, culminating in his assertion that he was not to blame for its lowly position prior to this match.

He slammed his players in a tetchy post-match press conference.

"Look, some of them have got to go. We're bottom of the league and it's embarrassing," he said.

"They've not been good enough. Have I been clear enough on that? We know there's going to be a lot of change."