No team in the Premier League have endured a more frustrating summer than Everton, and their failure to make a single signing has eroded confidence and self-belief. They were second best for most of the match at The Hawthorns yesterday, and were flattered by the result. Leon Osman and Yakubu were both on target in the second half, and Albion had to wait until the 89th minute to pull one back with a Roman Bednar penalty, awarded for Phil Neville’s handball, but David Moyes, the Everton manager, admitted that his team were fortunate.

A point apiece would have been a more equitable outcome, Albion producing the better football and enjoying the lion’s share of possession and chances. Rebuffed by a host of targets, most recently Tiago, of Juventus, Moyes is not a happy man, and admits that “six or seven” new players are needed before the September 1 transfer deadline if it is not to be a season of decline. Fifth in the table last time round, Everton are not looking like top-six material now. Fortunately for the blue half of Merseyside, there is nothing wrong with Moyes’s powers of motivation, and after a dismal first half his team talk during the interval, and substitutions, produced a marked improvement.

Nor can Everton’s support be faulted, their fans volubly staunch throughout, and deserving the air-punching salute Moyes gave them at the end. Afterwards, he said: “I’m looking for us to progress every season and this is the first summer when I’ve felt we haven’t. It is the most frustrating time I’ve had as manager, and you can see it’s not helping out on the pitch.

“Of course the disappointment is affecting the players, they are not daft. My job is not to let them down and I feel I am doing that by not bringing reinforcements in. For this team to win any Premier League game at the moment is a major achievement.”

The problem, he said, was “a bit of everything”. Invited to elaborate, he added: “Very few clubs want to sell. It’s not a matter of failing to agree prices or personal terms, I just can’t get the players of the quality that will improve us.” What he did not say was that some, like Tiago, found Goodison Park less attractive than their alternatives.

Midfield and attack were the areas Moyes was looking to strengthen. “We’ve got good defenders, as you saw here,” he said. “Our defence was the reason we got the result. West Brom are entitled to feel they should have got something from the game but the Premier League is a cruel place and you’ve got to win when you’ve got the opportunity. We hung in there and took advantage when they couldn’t score.”

Tony Mowbray, in contrast, has invested £20m on strengthening his Premier League newcomers, most recently a club record £4.7m on a Spanish striker, Borja Valero, from Real Majorca, who was signed too late to make his debut here. Gianni Zuiverloon, the right-back recruited from Heerenveen for £3.2, made his home debut and looks a useful acquisition at right-back.

Impressive, too, was Do-Heon Kim, the South Korean, who caught the eye at Arsenal on opening day and added to his burgeoning reputation with another clever, creative performance, just off the main striker, Ishmael Miller. Albion were the more cohesive, assertive team in the first half but lacked the cutting edge Valero has been bought to provide.

Their principal striker here, Miller, is a Championship remnant playing out of his depth. He ought to have scored just before the half-time break but wasted a good, penetrative right-wing cross from Zuiverloon by glancing his header wide of the far post. The only save of an unremarkable first 45 minutes had Tim Howard scrambling low to his right to turn a shot from Robert Koren round the post. Chris Brunt was just over with a meaty drive from distance, but there was precious little for the crowd to get excited about until an exchange of unpleasantries between Leon Osman and Abdoulaye Meite just before the interval.

To the relief of all present, the second half was much better. Albion might have been two goals to the good before it was 10 minutes old but Miller shot straight at Howard when well placed, then had his only decent effort repelled by Howard’s improvised save. Everton thought they had taken the lead after 63 minutes, when Jack Rodwell, 17, headed in from Mikel Arteta’s corner, but Rob Styles disallowed the goal for a push by Rodwell on Paul Robinson.

Their disappointment was forgotten just two minutes later, when Osman drifted past Meite before shooting in low, right to left, from eight yards. James Morrison responded with a shot which brought a sprawling save from Howard, but then Joleon Lescott’s long clearance caught Scott Carson and Meite in after-you mode, enabling Yakubu to beat the advancing goalkeeper to the ball and head into the vacant net.

Albion sent on Bednar in place of Mr Magoo, aka Miller, but the substitute looked just as myopic in shooting wide from a central position, 10 yards out, with Howard at his mercy. By the time he atoned, from the penalty spot, it was too late. Mowbray said: “Everton’s style is pragmatic – they took their chances and we didn’t. I know football is results driven but I can’t complain about that performance. We set the tempo and controlled the game. Can we score enough goals? Yes, I think we can. If we play like that every week, we’ll be fine.”

WEST BROMWICH ALBION: Carson 6, Zuiverloon 7, Meite 7, Barnett 6, Robinson 6, Greening 7, Koren 7 (Bednar 70min), Morrison 6, Brunt 6, DeHeon 7 (MacDonald 70min), Miller 5 (Beattie 80min)

EVERTON: Howard 6, Neville 6, Yobo 7, Lescott 7, Baines 6, Jagielka 6, Arteta 6, Rodwell 5, Baxter 5 (Vaughan 58min), Osman 6, Yakubu 6 (Valente 87min) Star man:Joleon Lescott (Everton) Yellow cards: West Brom: Zuiverloon, Meite, Brunt Everton:Osman

Star man: Joleon Lescott (Everton)
Referee: R Styles
Attendance: 26,190