It is tempting to think Albion's Premier League destiny will be determined at the Amex.

Fifteen of their 23 points have been attained at headquarters.

That is a customary proportion for most clubs, particularly one just promoted.

The problem with relying too much on the remaining home games to see the Seagulls to safety is that half of them are against Chelsea (next Saturday), Arsenal, Spurs and Manchester United.

It is not impossible for Albion to pick up points from these matches, but it will be extremely difficult, as Manchester City and Liverpool have already demonstrated.

So Chris Hughton's side will, in all probability, require a reasonable number of points from the fixtures they have left away from home in order to survive.

Today's trip to West Brom, one place off the foot of the table, starts a hat-trick of key challenges.

The away games that follow, after an FA Cup fourth round trip to Middlesbrough, are at Southampton and Stoke, also both currently in the bottom four.

It gets tougher after that, at Everton, Manchester City, Crystal Palace, Burnley and Liverpool.

So Albion must try to cash in against other sides involved in the fight for survival.

Positives and negatives can be gleaned from their away record to date.

Two victories by the beginning of November - at West Ham and Swansea - is uncommonly profitable for a promoted team.

The Argus: Since Glenn Murray pounced in Wales (above), Albion have not scored on their travels, a miserable sequence spanning a minute more than eight-and-a-half hours.

Three of the matches were at Manchester United - where they were unfortunate - at Wembley against Tottenham and at Chelsea.

The rot in the form of four straight away defeats, including a rare poor performance at Huddersfield, was stopped by a 0-0 draw in the last away outing at Newcastle over Christmas.

Away wins are a precious commodity for the 11 clubs embroiled in the relegation battle. The 121 games they have been involved in so far have produced only 21 victories.

Albion have won more away games and gained as many or more away points than West Brom, Stoke, Southampton and West Ham.

The most encouraging aspect for Chris Hughton's team as they approach a pivotal period on their travels is their record against those below them.

It reads played ten, won four, drawn five, lost one - at Bournemouth (below) in September when they were still finding their feet.

The Argus: Hughton said: "The most important results for us will be against the teams that very much affect us.

"It's an opportunity but every game is. Every week the next game seems to be a real big game.

"It's very difficult to talk about periods coming up because, for us, every game is a big game, every game is a challenge, so it's difficult to distinguish one from another."

Hughton is only mildly surprised that the other more established Albion find themselves in much more peril.

He said: "Yes but not hugely, because this is such a competitive division. There are always going to be teams that have bad periods.

"West Ham had a difficult start, Everton had a difficult start, Crystal Palace had a difficult start. They have strong teams and big squads so it can happen.

"What I do know about them (West Brom) is they have a good squad of players, gifted with a lot of quality.

"Sometimes, for whatever reason, it doesn't happen over a period of time.

"We have to look at the quality they have in the team and the squad. That means at any given time they can win football matches."

West Brom have not won in the Premier League for 20 matches - 12 of them under Tony Pulis and eight under Alan Pardew - since opening the season with successive victories against Bournemouth and Burnley.

With Chelsea to follow, Albion need to avoid becoming the launchpad of a revival for one of their rivals. Otherwise, by the end of the January transfer window, the bottom three could be uncomfortably close.