SUNDERLAND appear to have developed a reputation for being the misers of Division One.

Unfortunately while that particular trait is a blessing in defence, it is becoming a bit of a liability in front of goal.

At the back they give very little away, with Saturday's clean sheet their fifth in six games, while in attack their strikers' recent goal return is miserly in the extreme.

Two goals in the last six games cannot by any stretch of the imagination be classed as promotion form.

But, with Gary Breen at his imperious best at the heart of a well-marshalled defence, clean sheets are arriving at a rate of knots.

The continued pursuit of Huddersfield striker Jon Stead indicates that Mick McCarthy is keen to add more firepower to his ranks.

But while the problem of a lack of goals is not lost on the Sunderland manager, in public it appears not to be a major cause for concern.

"Goals will come - if we play like that then goals will come," said McCarthy.

"I though they (the strikers) were brilliant. I thought Marcus Stewart and Kevin Kyle were fantastic."

The burden of goalscoring, however, falls not only on the shoulders of the front two, according to midfielder Jeff Whitley.

He said: "The manager has told us all to chip in the pursuit of goals.

"We've got to keep striving to go forward and hope the goals will come.

"We practise things in training and the goals are just flying in. It really is just a case of us being patient and trying not to force things.

"The manager has told us it's not just about the forwards. People will look at the stats and think they missed a hatful.

"But it's not as if they had chance after chance. Opportunities are spread around and it's a case of somebody taking one and the rest will follow."

The two strikers had at least three good chances each to score, but both found West Brom goalkeeper Russell Hoult in a rich vein of form.

"They've created and caused mayhem with their running and movement," said McCarthy.

"We should give them a bit of credit for the way they (West Brom) defended and the keeper played.

"I thought the strikers were terrific."

And terrific they were until they saw the white of Hoult's eyes.

Hoult appears to have a thing about reserving his best performances for North-East clubs.

On Wednesday he frustrated Newcastle United in the Baggies' extra-time Carling Cup win, and on Saturday he did exactly the same to Sunderland.

Most of his work in the first half was fairly routine. A quick free-kick from John Oster in the fifth minute was comfortably held at his near post, but four minutes later he had Sean Gregan to thank.

Another clever quick free-kick on the edge of the box was played to Stewart, who swivelled and shot only to see his effort cleared off the line by the former Darlington man.

The Baggies clearly looked tired and their response to Sunderland's attacking prowess appeared to be to stop its creation - by whatever methods.

First to feel the force was Julio Arca, clattered into by Andy Johnson on 23 minutes - who was rightly shown the yellow card.

Five minutes later and it was Lee Hughes, again on Arca, and again referee Clive Penton reached for his card.

By this point the game was developing an unpleasant nasty streak and West Brom's right wing-back Paul Robinson was the next to see yellow for a late challenge on Darren Williams.

Williams then began an argument with about 10,000 Baggies' supporters who appeared to blame him for an attempted clearance that found the head of one fan.

The referee and his assistants then missed what appeared to be a late blow by former Sunderland full-back Bernt Haas on loan signing Stewart Downing, but thankfully the half-time whistle appeared to calm troubled waters.

If anything Sunderland were more dominant after the break, but West Brom boss Gary Megson's decision to switch to 4-4-2 almost brought immediate results.

Jason Koumas's corner found the head of Thomas Gaardsoe with only a goal-line clearance by Jeff Whitley preventing the home side going ahead.

After that it was virtually all Sunderland.

Downing came into his own on the left and a superb cross was met by a Stewart header only for Hoult to tip over.

The West Brom keeper's best was, however, saved for Downing. After Arca's incisive pass had split the home defence, the 19-year-old Middlesbrough-born winger cut in from the left only to see his goalbound effort tipped onto the post.

McCarthy's comment that it was a "0-0 hammering" just about summed up the afternoon.