Manchester was so positive for Albion. Now comes the sort of test which has tripped them up before.
And one they must pass if they are to be serious about pushing on for a lofty league placing in the weeks ahead.
Embrace opportunity, expectation and attention and put points on the board.
The league table around Albion’s position in the table is as congested as one of those many motorways, dual carriageways and ring roads which slow you down around Manchester.
But the possibilities are there for the Seagulls if they take the right turns.
They are on a little bit of a high after the cup win at Old Trafford.
After the home win over Burnley and draw at Manchester City. After the return of Pascal Gross.
After the way they used their squad to such good effect in Manchester.
But the fact they have only won one of their last eight league games can keep minds focussed.
They can justifiably feel they have a spring in their step but also have wrongs to put right and points to prove.
Seven points from the last 24 available is not the sort of pace which will see them fulfil their ambitions. But there is a lot about them right now which feels good.
Bournemouth, similarly, come into this game off the high of winning their most recent league game and getting a decent draw at Chelsea before that.
But with just the one win in 13 matches (league and cup) and eight league points taken from the last possible 36.
Albion head coach Fabian Hurzeler warned: “What we expect is a very intense team, a group that are capable of beating every team in the league.
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“Of course, they haven’t had have an easy run, but in all the games they could easily have won.
“We know that they will demand a lot from us regarding physicality.
“We have to be mentally, physically on our highest level to beat them.
“We have to very good in our positioning and we have to be very good in possession if we want to try to outplay them because they're very good in individual duels.
“We expect a very physical game. We expect the game where we have to be on our highest level regarding positioning, regarding passing, regarding first touches, regarding how we are connected on the pitch.
“We know what we have to do.”
While trusting the process is a big thing for Hurzeler, his most used term this season has probably been “small margins”.
He said it four times in one answer during his press conference on Friday and there is good reason for that. It is a "small margins" sort of season.
At the Vitality Stadium in September, Albion equalised through Kaoru Mitoma and looked the most likely winners until a poor pass and a penalty sent them towards a 2-1 defeat.
Albion’s job now is to make sure such margins go their way.
On a night when their match is the sole focus of Prem attention, they will be expected to back up the good work in Manchester.
