Pre-season: West Brom 0 Bournemouth 0 - Report and pictures
The first home game of the Slaven Bilic era may have ended goalless, but there was plenty to encourage Albion fans.
The Baggies kept the ball well against Premier League opposition, and there were impressive performances from summer signings Filip Krovinovic and Semi Ajayi.
They lacked a cutting edge up front, even though £8million man Kenneth Zohore looked sharper than Tuesday, and it's obvious they need to sign at least one more striker before the window shuts.
But the defensive solidity against a potent front-line including Callum Wilson, Josh King and Ryan Fraser, and the midfield give-and-go's had the 5,000 Albion fans inside The Hawthorns purring.
It's worth noting Bournemouth are a week behind, and they've got another friendly in under 24 hours so fielded a weakened squad with just five substitutes, but the way Bilic's men kept the ball was reassuring.
And with Romaine Sawyers due to join this team over the weekend, there will be even more passing options in midfield.
This was the final game of pre-season ahead of the curtain raiser at Nottingham Forest, and Bilic named a starting line-up that resembled something close to his preferred XI.
Albion started brightly, and created their first chance straight from kick-off with a slick passing move built up from the back.
Matt Phillips blazed that over, but he put another effort into the side netting after 18-year-old Nathan Ferguson threaded a ball through the eye of a needle to him.
The youngster looks more than capable of keeping new signing Darnell Furlong honest at right-back, and may even provide stiffer competition than that for the man who replaced him at half-time.
When Kyle Bartley dived in on the half-way line, allowing Bournemouth to race free, Ferguson strong-armed England's Wilson off the ball in the box.
Up the other end, Albion threatened through Krovinovic, who was finding pockets of space on the half-turn in the number 10 position and driving the Baggies forward.
Rekeem Harper drilled a dangerous shot from distance before a lovely interchange on the edge of the box involving Zohore and Matt Phillips sent Jake Livermore in behind, but he couldn't take the ball with him.
That woke the crowd up, who liked what they saw, particularly from their new Croatian playmaker.
Ajayi was also far more composed at the back than his nightmare return to Rotherham on Tuesday, stepping out and intercepting passes with strength and purpose.
Bilic made three changes at half-time, sending Oli Burke on up front in place of Zohore and bringing Kieran Gibbs back from injury.
Bournemouth started to threaten a little bit more, but Ajayi was normally on hand to mop up. Shortly before the hour mark he beat King in a footrace with reassuring ease.
Kyle Edwards had been given a one-on-one tutorial after Tuesday's match, but the fleet-footed winger struggled to find any end product this time, and an hour in, he was withdrawn for Hal Robson-Kanu.
The rest of Albion's squad followed soon after, and the team looked vastly different at full-time, although Krovinovic and Ajayi played the full 90 minutes.
Bournemouth sub Sam Surridge wanted a penalty five minutes from time when he went down under Furlong's challenge but referee Steve Martin decided he made too much of a meal of it.
Albion's best chance of the night came late on, when Robson-Kanu's glorious scoop over the Bournemouth back-line found Gibbs, but the left-back's shot was saved superbly by Aaron Ramsdale.
And they nearly scored a lovely goal immediately after that following a series of sharp one-touch passes when Sam Field switched play to Furlong, who gathered it on the run before laying it back to Jonathan Leko. Once again Ramsdale saved.
It ended goalless, but it was as encouraging a nil-nil draw as there could be. The build-up play was exciting. Albion just need someone to stick the ball in the net.
Teams
Albion (4-2-3-1) Johnstone; Ferguson (Furlong 45), Bartley (O'Shea 69), Ajayi, Townsend (Gibbs 45); Livermore (c) (Brunt 64), Harper (Field 64); Phillips (Leko 69), Krovinovic, Edwards (Robson-Kanu 60); Zohore (Burke 45).
Unused subs: Bond, O'Shea, Fitzwater, Leko, Tulloch.
Bournemouth (4-4-2): Ramsdale; Smith, Jordan, Simpson, Kelly; Dobre, Ofoborh (Sherring 86), Arter, Fraser (Anthony 84); King (Surridge 75), Wilson.
Subs: Dennis Cordner.
Attendance: 5,142 (145 away)
