WHEN Graeme Souness arrived at St James' Park in September, he talked of inheriting one of the best strike forces in the Premiership.

How ironic, then, that after weeks of watching his defenders throw away points at every opportunity, the Newcastle boss now faces a striker shortage that threatens to undo all of the rebuilding work he is doing at the other end of the field.

Souness, consigned to the stands after being found guilty of improper conduct during November's 4-1 defeat to Fulham, would have been happy with his side's composure and creativity in a lively goalless draw at The Hawthorns.

But carving out chances is only the half the battle, and United's lack of a cutting edge meant they were unable to achieve the three points that their bright midfield interplay merited.

Bryan Robson's West Brom are the only Premiership side with a worse defensive record than the Magpies but, despite being outplayed for most of the game, the top-flight's basement boys profited from Newcastle's dearth of attacking options and emerged with only their second clean sheet of the season.

The Magpies created enough first-half chances to have won two games but, after they went begging, Souness' side slipped into a second-half slumber that stemmed from their lack of a scoring threat.

With Craig Bellamy's latest knee problem worsening an injury crisis that has already sidelined Alan Shearer and Patrick Kluivert, Newcastle had Shola Ameobi as their only available centre-forward at The Hawthorns.

They were nearly left with none at all midway through the first half when Ameobi went down clutching his leg following a crude challenge from Andy Johnson.

The West Brom defender escaped without a second booking - he had already fallen foul of referee Neale Barry for charging down a free-kick - but Souness will know he is unlikely to get off so lightly if anything were to happen to Ameobi in the next month.

Defensive re-inforcements have long been his priority but if today's scan on Bellamy's knee reveals any long-term damage, the Scot might have to step up his rumoured pursuit of Real Madrid's Fernando Morientes.

Bellamy's absence last night meant Souness was left with a gap to fill in midfield and, in handing 18-year-old Charles N'Zogbia the first start of his career, the United boss underlined just how highly he rates the latest addition to the club's French connection.

He also ensured Newcastle would enjoy a distinct numerical advantage in the middle of the park and, just as Manchester United's five-man midfield had proved too much for Middlesbrough on Saturday, so Newcastle enjoyed almost complete supremacy against an unbalanced West Brom.

With gold shirts bearing down on Russell Hoult's goal from every angle, the visitors carved out five goalscoring chances in the opening 25 minutes but a combination of woeful finishing and the woodwork kept them at bay.

Newcastle's early dominance was total but, with no-one to put the ball in the back of the net, it ultimately counted for nothing.

Titus Bramble should have opened the scoring just five minutes in - planting a free header straight at Hoult following Laurent Robert's free-kick - and, while Ameobi made better use of his aerial ability 60 seconds later, Lee Bowyer drove his cushioned header over the crossbar.

The chances continued to come thick and fast with Ameobi shooting straight at Hoult after breaking free down the left, before stealing ahead of Neil Clement to turn Kieron Dyer's low cross wide.

Bowyer - celebrating his 28th birthday yesterday - then came closest to capping a terrific opening spell with a goal when he cannoned a fierce 25-yard drive off the foot of the left-hand post with Hoult well beaten.

The Baggies, on the other hand, looked like a side who have now gone 323 minutes without a goal on home soil and, with Bramble maintaining the improvement that seems to have been prompted by the arrival of Jean-Alain Boumsong, United's previously shaky rearguard suffered few scares.

Indeed, save for a Nwankwo Kanu strike that looped wide off the heel of Robert Earnshaw, West Brom's three strikers failed to trouble Shay Given until the United goalkeeper came to his side's rescue 11 minutes into the second half.

Geoff Horsfield out-muscled Aaron Hughes as he latched onto Darren Purse's flick on, and an onrushing Given blocked the physical striker's shot with his chest.

Bowyer saw his 25-yard drive deflected over the crossbar moments later but, with the home side finally enjoying an equal share of possession, Given did well to save Earnshaw's acrobatic half-volley at his near post after the former Cardiff striker had dropped deep to receive Paul Robinson's cross.

James Milner replaced the tiring N'Zogbia with 14 minutes left, and the youngster - who turns 19 today - almost made an instant impact. His right-wing cross was headed goalwards by Robert, but the back-pedalling Riccardo Scimeca hacked the ball away to safety.

That proved a rare second-half scare for the home side, who remain rooted to the foot of the Premiership despite their third draw in a row.

The point leaves Newcastle in the bottom half of the table but, rather than worrying about the tied result, Souness will have been more concerned at having to watch his side draw a blank.

West Bromwich Albion 0 - 0 Newcastle United

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