Robson largely kept faith with his Great Escape heroes with Chris Kirkland the only debutant to make the starting line-up. The central midfield slots went to Ronnie Wallwork and Junichi Inamoto, with Gera and Greening occupying their familiar roles on the flanks. Up front, Kanu's impressive pre-season was rewarded with a rare start under Bryan Robson alongside skipper Kevin Campbell. Albrechtsen retained the right-back slot in a familiar back four.

City boasted an all new front line with summer captures Andy Cole and Darius Vassell up front, and despite reports to the contrary, Richard Dunne failed to make the starting line-up with David Sommeil and Stephen Jordan forming an unfamiliar central defensive partnership.

So without the own goal hero from last season, Albion had to fashion their own chances. The front pairing of Kanu and Campbell lacked any real pace which meant that the only attacking option for the Baggies was to play to feet, or down the flanks. Kanu worked hard but somehow seemed less effective than Horsfield was last season in working the channels. Although overhit on occasion, Gera's cross-field diagonal passes, often a useful ploy last term, were largely incomplete.

The most successful ploy for visitors was to play through the middle using Inamoto and Wallwork who were not only neat and tidy with their passing going forward, but were both effective defensively in breaking up City attacks on the edge of the box. Neither, perhaps, showed the dynamism on the ball that we got with Richardson, but as a solid central unit that linked well with forwards and wide players, they made a very successful pairing.

Kanu and Campbell were both willing to come short and help to move the ball wide to Gera and Greening. While Gera was normally the more ambitious of the two wide men, and certainly the more mobile as he covered every inch of grass as usual, it was Greening that carved out Albion's only real clear cut chance of the first half. He jinked inside and out down the left flank bamboozling Danny Mills before putting in a wonderful cross. Gera ghosted into the box and met the ball with his head eight yards out with the goal at his mercy, but clipped the wrong side of the post as Baggies fans held heads in hands.

At the other end, the familiar back four of Albrechtsen, Gaardsoe, Clement and Robinson looked firm against a useful City attack. Without the raw pace and trickery of Shaun Wright-Phillips, it was left to Reyna and Musampa to carve out opportunities. They both did OK without ever really exposing the Baggies defence. Of the front two, Cole looked the more impressive but despite the majority of possession, clear cut chances for the hosts were few and far between thanks to a solid defensive display.

At the back of that defence was the hugely impressive Chris Kirkland. He looked supremely assured as he dominated his penalty area spreading confidence throughout the Albion back line. His defenders limited City to long range shots in the first half, but Barton's well-struck volley brought the best out of the Albion 'keeper as he dived to his right to push the ball wide.

Kirkland was again called into action just before the break when he pushed Reyna's shot around the post when the American looked well placed to open the scoring.

The second half was similar to the first although City did lay siege to the Albion goals late on as they looked for the winner.

Albion's clearest chance of the second forty-five fell to Kevin Campbell. For once, route one was effective as Kanu flicked on Kirkland's clearance to put the skipper through. He composed himself well and sent James the wrong way, but somehow the former West Ham man blocked the shot with an outstretched leg.

For all City's efforts, they failed to create many real chances thanks mainly to an excellent defensive performance. Their best opportunity came courtesy of a lapse of concentration from Thomas Gaardsoe when his misplaced header put Andy Cole through on goal; thankfully, Kirkland was on hand again to make the save. Musampa had a half decent chance with a header in the closing minutes but failed to hit the target.

Robson tried to get Albion to attack a little more by replacing Kanu with Kamara with half an hour remaining but, despite some willing runs, it had little effect. Watson came on with ten minutes left to shore things up as City began to exert a little pressure.

Albion could be considered a trifle fortunate when referee Chris Foy stopped the play when Wallwork went down with cramp; City were in a good attacking position at the time. Having said that, Danny Mills was perhaps fortunate to escape with only a yellow card after he unnecessarily got himself involved with the incident. It was refreshing to hear Stuart Pearce agree with the referee's decision to stop the play; many other managers would have berated the official.

Tempers were a little on edge in the final few minutes, but I think most parties will feel that a draw was a fair result.

So Albion get a point on their travels and keep a clean sheet, a feat they failed to achieve throughout last season in the Premiership. It was a solid performance in what was a potentially tricky opening fixture, and the only real criticism to make is the lack of potency up front. It is, perhaps, understandable that the emphasis was on defence, but neither striker caused too many problems in the opposition penalty area. With Ellington now having completed his move from Wigan, Robson's options up front are unprecedented and strikers will need to perform to keep their places in the side.

The signs are encouraging, but we will know more after next week's home game against Portsmouth, a match we should be winning if progress is being made.

Marks

Chris Kirkland - 9 - MOM. Excellent all round performance including two or three outstanding saves.
Martin Albrechtsen - 8 - Good solid performance.
Neil Clement - 8 - Continued where he left off last season.
Thomas Gaardsoe - 7 - One lapse which was not punished; otherwise good.
Paul Robinson - 7 - Good display.
Ronnie Wallwork - 8 - Typically tidy performance with some excellent defensive work.
Jonathan Greening - 7 - Worked hard, one excellent cross that deserved a better finish.
Junichi Inamoto - 8 - Impressive display, continuing his pre-season form.
Kevin Campbell - 6 - Worked hard but missed his only chance in the game.
Zoltan Gera - 6 - Some good moments, some poor. Not quite firing.
Nwankwo Kanu - 6 - Kept the ball well, but threatened little.

Diomansy Kamara - 6 - Enthusiastic, but nothing quite clicked.
Steve Watson - 5 - Little impact.
Richard Chaplow - Not on long enough.

Bryan Robson - 6 - Organisation was good, but the front line didn't work and the substitutions were not effective.


Jon Want, 15th August 2005.