Albion have been here before – in more ways than one.

Four months ago, the Seagulls and, perhaps even more so, their fans were feeling very good about life in the Premier League after a good win over Swansea.

There was talk about Lewis Dunk and Dale Stephens being of interest to England.

Then, just a few weeks ago, they came across one of the big six at what felt the best time.

Chelsea came south on a poor run and having lost both Alvaro Morata and Pedro to suspension, to go with various injuries.

So what does that make it when Arsenal come to the Amex? A case of twice bitten, three times shy?

Whatever, neither Glenn Murray – whose turn it is now to enjoy those England mentions – nor Stephens are willing to rest on any laurels just because they climbed to 12th in the table after the return fixture with the Swans.

Not to say that they eased off after the win at the Liberty Stadium.

There were factors, notably the tough nature of the fixture list, as to why they slipped from the eighth place in which they left West Glamorgan to the 16th spot they occupied on the day of that 4-0 reverse to Chelsea.

The following afternoon, Albion were down to 17th in the “as it happens” table for all of five minutes as Southampton went ahead at home to Tottenham before Harry Kane quickly levelled.

That left Albion still 16th, which remains their lowest position to date.

They were one point clear of the drop zone at the time and remained so for ten days thanks to the interruption for the FA Cup.

So, from one point clear in 16th place to four points clear in 12th, things have improved a bit since then.

But it is not the ten places and seven points which separated them from the bottom three after winning at Swansea on November 4.

Stephens said of the current status: “It’s obviously a position that we thought we’d be in.

“I’d rather be sitting 12th than somewhere else.

“But we’ve got another tough game now and we are looking to build on what we have done so far this season.

“We’ve generally played well at home. We knew at the start of the season it would be important to us and we have shown it, especially against Swansea.

“We can perform here and score more than one goal and we are looking to continue that.”

Murray has celebrated home-and-away goal doubles against Southampton, West Ham and Swansea of late.

The man whose slow motion finish at Swansea sent Albion up to that false dawn of eighth position knows to be wary when he checks the league table.

He said: “The league table tells a bit of a lie really. We’re sitting 12th now and it sounds great but once, you look into it, it doesn’t look so great.

“The further we can put between us and the relegation zone the better for us and at the minute it’s not enough.”

The Argus:

This Glenn Murray goal left Albion eighth in the table

Murray continues to see any points against the leading pack as something of a bonus – if Arsenal can be considered that.

There are four teams in the Premier League whose home points tally is more than double what they have got away and two of them meet at the Amex tomorrow.

Albion have 21 points at home and ten away while Arsenal’s gulf is significantly wider with 32 at the Emirates and 13 on the road.

The other two teams who fit this category are Everton (26 at home, eight away) and Stoke (19 at home, seven away).

There appears among fans to be hope that Albion can cause a shock.

But we have been here before and seen that the big six, even when supposedly vulnerable, are still the big six.

Murray said: “I think that any points we can pick up off the so-called big boys is a bonus.

“When we’re playing teams around us it’s just important not to lose so they don’t gain ground on us.”

That philosophy from Murray is understandable but it doesn’t leave much scope to actually win matches.

There will be a feeling in the Albion camp that they can win this one.

If Arsenal’s confidence is a bit low, they cannot allow them to revive it early on as Chelsea did at the Amex.

If they manage to snuff out the Gunners’ intricate passing, they cannot then allow them to score from a straightforward set-piece, as happened against Liverpool.

But, if they do that, they now believe they have the added firepower to cause good teams problems.

Stephens said: “We’ve got numbers and we’ve got a lot of striking options at the minute and that’s the way the manager wants it.

“That’s only good for the team. Whoever plays is going to be a threat and we are going to need them all between now and the end of the season.

“We knew that the last four teams we played were in that bottom ten, like we are.

“The Swansea game was massively important for both sides.

“We knew we had to win no matter what and I thought we put on a great performance as well.

“We’re in good form. We’ve got players who enjoy playing at home and we go into the Arsenal game full of confidence against a top side.”