Villa 1 Albion 1 - the Villa verdict

The £24m striker netted his 150th league goal to rescue a point for Villa in an enthralling derby which denied Albion the chance to move up to third in the Premier League.

However, Lambert may have to revise his handling of his star forward if he is a significant part of his plans for the future.

The sense of relief when Bent scored was clear to see as he celebrated with the kind of wild screaming more akin to West Midland Safari Park than Villa Park.

Bent stopped short of two fingers to the home dugout but that the 28-year-old poacher had to be restrained by his team-mates emphasised how he felt about being named among the substitutes.

The tense relationship between Lambert and Bent was evident at full-time when the Villa manager went to congratulate the player.

Bent was lukewarm towards his gaffer at the final whistle and while he did not quite blank him, he was not exactly receptive. Lambert for his part offered a much greater embrace.

It was clear Bent – who insisted on speaking to the press afterwards – wanted to make a point to the Scot off the pitch as well as on it. Especially in front of watching England manager Roy Hodgson.

It was certainly a bold call by Lambert to leave Bent out of his starting line-up having seen the striker score his side's only goal against Southampton last week.

Yes, Gabby Agbonlahor had been brilliant at Manchester City but, after he stripped Bent of the captaincy and gave it Ron Vlaar, the Villa boss, with hindsight, might have taken a different tack. It's a gamble to play with the emotions of your best player.

Lambert made four changes from the side which lost 4-1 at Southampton, the most significant of which was the decision to axe Bent and partner Agbonlahor and Christian Benteke up front.

Fabian Delph came in for the injured Stephen Ireland while Joe Bennett and Marc Albrighton were preferred ahead of Eric Lichaj and Barry Bannan.

The Baggies carved open a golden opportunity in the sixth minute when Chris Brunt's deep cross was headed back across goal by James Morrison but the unmarked Shane Long headed wide from close range.

Brett Holman latched on to Karim El Ahmadi's flick in the 26th minute and unleashed a sweet half-volley from all of 30 yards which Albion keeper Ben Foster tipped over.

Agbonlahor teed up Holman just outside the 18-yard box in the 37th minute and he drilled a low shot well wide of Foster's goal while Ciaran Clark headed wide from an Albrighton corner moments later.

Foster, who had a shaky game against Liverpool during the week, produced a brilliant save to claw away a deflected Holman effort in the 41st minute.

Benteke should have done better shortly before half-time when he picked the pocket of Gareth McAuley and cut across the box only to lift his shot over.

Albion thought they had scored four minutes after the break when Yousuff Mulumbu's cross was headed past Brad Guzan by Long but the assistant referee had already flagged for offside.

However, Long was not to be denied in the 51st minute when Morrison broke clear down the right and delivered a low cross to the back post which left the Ireland forward with a simple tap-in.

Benteke was denied by Gabriel Tamas from close range as Villa went in search of an immediate equaliser while Bennett curled a free-kick inches past the post shortly afterwards.

Romania international Tamas, who had replaced Billy Jones in the first half, almost scored a freak goal in the 64th minute when his mis-hit cross looked destined for the top-right corner but was pawed away by Guzan.

Bent replaced Benteke with 22 minutes left and the club's record signing equalised in the 80th minute with a typical poacher's goal.

Bannan's corner fell to Clark who saw his shot rebound off Tamas into the path of Bent and he cracked a low shot past Foster.

Both sides had chances to win it in the remainder of the game as Romelu Lukaku skimmed the outside of the post with a deflected effort and saw a near-post shot saved well by Guzan, while Bent's spectacular long-range effort went wide.

Then came Bent's reaction to Lambert at the final whistle, although the Villa boss insisted afterwards he had "no problem" with the striker.

Either way, the January transfer window should be interesting.

By Timothy Abraham