Albion's first clean sheet of the season coincided, appropriately, with new long-term contracts for Lewis Dunk and Shane Duffy.

Five-year deals for the English and Irish pillars of the defence were announced hours before West Ham's visit to the Amex.

They combined effectively, as they have so often since joining forces two years and two months ago, to contain the threat from Marko Arnautovic.

True, they needed a bit of luck along the way. The Hammers' powerful Austrian should have equalised late-on when he fired over from six yards.

Nevertheless, Albion's first shut-out since defeating Manchester United at the Amex in May, which followed another at Burnley, emphasised how important Dunk and Duffy will be again to the safety mission.

They have each missed only one match out of 46 since the Seagulls were promoted.

In Dunk's case that was earlier this season, when an ankle injury sustained in another home win against United ruled him out at Liverpool.

He perhaps came back too quickly from that setback but has approached peak form again in the last two matches against Manchester City and West Ham.

Manager Chris Hughton said: "I thought he was good again. I thought they were both really good last season and if you said to me they were going to be the same as last season I would settle for that.

"It's normal to get dips and probably with Dunky it's getting him back to his best.

"He's missed a little bit the early part of this season. He is not one that generally misses training or games."

The Argus: Dunk (above) had been regularly mentioned in England terms without getting a call-up from Gareth Southgate. Until yesterday that is.

Speaking on Friday night, Hughton said: "Anybody just wants to be as consistent as possible. We are eight games into the season. Last year he was very consistent.

"He has to keep looking to learn and develop. I'm sure he is one player that is very much on their (England's) radar.

"And, if that is the case, what he has got to make sure to do is the next bit, which is force the issue to get in."

Duffy, born in Derry in Northern Ireland, is already an established international with the Republic of Ireland, the country Hughton represented.

Gerry Ryan and Steve Penney, wingers for the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland respectively, jointly hold the club international record of 16 caps as Albion players.

Duffy will join them for Martin O'Neill's side when Denmark visit in the Nations League on Saturday and is on course to set a new mark at home to Wales three days later.

Hughton told The Argus: "Again, he's been really good. He knows what he is, a big, strong centre-half that has good mobility for somebody his size.

"He has developed very much at international level. When you look at that Irish team I think he is one of their main players now.

"He's a big player for the Republic and he's earned it. That has been over the last couple of years. Before that they had a couple of players that were generally going to play.

"I think that's good for him as well. He is a player that really enjoys playing for his country and I think that has seen him develop even more."

The Argus: Dunk and Duffy (above), both 26, have forged a formidable bond on and off the field since the latter was signed from Blackburn Rovers in August 2016.

Dunk has made more than 200 appearances for Albion, while the West Ham victory was the 200th league appearance of Duffy's career.

Hughton said: "They are both good individuals and the thing they have in common is, for their age, they have played a lot of games.

"Most players, particularly in the modern era, probably haven't played the amount of games they have.

"A lot of Championship games, gone to the Premier League at the same time. And of course they have played a lot of games together in their time with us. That helps form a relationship on and off the pitch."

The challenge for Dunk, Duffy and the rest of their team-mates now is a return to the mean mood in the first half of last season, when clean sheets were a regularity for Albion rather than a rarity.

Hughton said: "We made some poor choices on the ball and added a bit too much to their (West Ham's) possession but it's getting back to a clean sheet.

"There isn't one manager, how ever he wants to play, how ever expansive, that doesn't know or think the most important thing is keeping that clean sheet.

"If you do, you are always going to get opportunities to score."