As the score suggests, Bolton have long since abandoned the idea of playing flowing football, or to be more accurate, sacked manager Sammy Lee for entertaining such a ridiculous notion. While his successor Gary Megson kept them up last season by reverting to the old Big Sam Allardyce blueprint, he might have unwittingly allowed an entertainer to infiltrate his dressing room with the signing of Holland Under-21 striker Mustapha Riga.

The only shafts of sunlight from Bolton early on came when Ricardo Gardner set off on one of his dribbles, hilariously running himself and his effort into a post.

Riga then entered the stage after Joey O’Brien was forced off with a head injury after 14 minutes, and he totally upstaged Gardner and everyone else, looking as though he had won the game in the second half with a curling free kick from the edge of the box that required an England-class save from Scott Carson. Bolton had been appealing for a penalty when Riga was brought down by Paul Robinson, who was booked. While Riga’s momentum took him almost to the penalty spot, referee Keith Stroud rightly gave a free kick on the edge of the box, allowing the Dutchman to showcase his dead-ball skill.

A storming finish by Bolton saw Kevin Davies twice shake his head as an offside flag denied him a goal after he had forced the ball into the net. The home crowd expressed their disapproval, while roaring their side on, only to boo them at the final whistle, as they had at half-time. Booing seems to be default mode for home supporters at most grounds these days.

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West Brom manager Tony Mowbray, who certainly does put his side in the football playing category, was disappointed to gain only a point, even though it is the first they have managed this term. He is also confident Albion can stay up.

“I am not into all the knee-jerk stuff and hysteria”, he said, when asked whether he would have panicked if this had become a fourth successive defeat, following their Carling Cup knockout to Hartlepool in midweek. “Don’t judge us after two games, judge us after 12. The way we have played so far, we’ll be all right.”

He had hoped that record £4.5m signing Borja Valero would add a bit more dash to their game on his Premier League debut but despite some nice touches and one powder-puff shot at the end of a sweet passing move, he only lasted 58 minutes before being brought off, apparently still not up to the physical requirements of this level, and definitely not when the opponents are Bolton Wanderers.

West Brom might have won all three points when Kim Do Heon cracked a left-foot shot that beat Jussi Jaaskelainen and came down smack on the line, with Ishmael Miller so surprised he failed to bundle in the rebound, his second glaring miss with another to follow when he headed straight at the goalkeeper. No wonder he spent three years as a Manchester City reserve.

Megson thought his side should have won: “Most of the pressure came from us throughout the game but we were a bit one-dimensional in the first half, just knocking it up to Kevin Davies. Riga has got great quality and is trying to settle in. Now he just has to learn about the English game.”

Star man: Mustapha Riga (Bolton)

Referee: K Stroud

Attendance: 20,387

Bolton: Jaaskelainen 6, Steinsson 6, Shittu 7, A O’Brien 6, Samuel 6, J O’Brien 6 (Riga 14min, 8), Muamba 6, Nolan 6, McCann 6, Gardner 7, Davies 7

West Brom: Carson 7, Zuiverloon 6, Barnett 6, Meite 6 (Hoefkens h-t, 6), Robinson 6, Koren 6 (MacDonald 70min), Valero 6 (Cech 58min, 6), Greening 6, Morrison 6, Kim 6, Miller 5

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