Albion's Premier League adventure is turning into a tale of the unexpected.

The script was obeyed in the opening three games, a struggle for points and goals.

Since then, they have taken 15 points from nine matches and scored 12 goals to be ninth in the table with nearly a third of the season gone.

Had they beaten Stoke at the Amex on Monday night, they would have their joint-highest points tally ever at this stage.

Back in 1981 under Mike Bailey Albion took 18 points from their opening 12 matches and went on to the club's highest-ever finish of 13th.

They are well on track at the moment to achieve the aim of staying up - but Chris Hughton (below) is right to sound a cautionary note about the home form.

The Argus: The other surprise so far is that his side have taken almost as many points away (seven) as at the Amex (nine) after successive wins on their travels at West Ham and Swansea.

Hughton has been around the block enough to appreciate this is unlikely to remain the case. The Amex will, in the long run, remain the key to survival.

He has urged his players in The Argus today to "make sure it's not such a nice place to come and play".

With one eye, perhaps, on the not so nice places for Albion to be playing at on their forthcoming travels.

The stadiums themselves provide huge motivation - Old Trafford, Wembley, Stamford Bridge.

But it goes without saying, it will be extremely tough to take anything from trips to Manchester United, Tottenham and Chelsea.

The other away game this side of Christmas is testing too, at Huddersfield. Their record is more in line with what you would expect of a promoted team, 11 points out of 15 at home.

Newcastle also, where Albion end a memorable 2017. Ten of their 14 points have been accumulated at St James' Park.

Albion have done well on their travels to date, much better than anticipated, but the season has gone far enough now for the table to have relevance.

The two away wins have come against two of the current bottom three. They have gone to only one of the top seven (Arsenal).

The home form? On the face of it, not too bad at all. Only Manchester City, on the opening day, have left with maximum points and it took them more than threequarters of the match to break the Seagulls down.

The devil is in the detail. A hat-trick of draws against an established Premier League trio of Everton, Southampton and Stoke feels acceptable.

Less so when you see them concertinaed together in the bottom seven. Between them they have won only nine of 36 matches and lost 16.

Albion came from behind against Southampton and against Stoke (twice), so they can reasonably be described as points gained, even though Glenn Murray was denied an obvious penalty on Monday evening.

The Argus: The one that got away was Everton and that last-gasp spot-kick gifted to Wayne Rooney (above).

Beating West Brom with something to spare looked impressive at the time, in early September. Not so much now that the table has taken some shape and the fourth-bottom Baggies have sacked Tony Pulis.

The other (narrow) home win came against Newcastle, two places below Albion in 11th.

Next Tuesday against Crystal Palace carries more significance than a long-awaited clash with arch-rivals.

Palace are bottom with one win out of 12. Their visit is the best chance for Albion to collect three home points in one game, rather than three, before Christmas.

After that they entertain Liverpool (fifth), Burnley (seventh) and Watford (eighth).

Hughton faces a delicate balancing act with his team selection at Old Trafford after naming the same starting line-up against West Ham, Southampton, Swansea and Stoke.

Does he rest key players? If so, how many? Albion have never won three away games in a row in the top flight and United are unbeaten at home since losing to their city enemies 14 months ago, so the odds are stacked against them.

Hughton has to evaluate that against the danger of a heavy defeat damaging confidence following five games unbeaten with a settled side, when the only changes have been on the left, Gaetan Bong taking over from Markus Suttner and Jose Izquierdo from Solly March.

Every point is welcome on the path to the near-40 Albion will require - but the 13 matches remaining at the Amex are likely to be pivotal.