On the hour mark Radostin Kishishev sent a snap pass forward to a streaking Darren Bent, whose diagonal cross to Marcus Bent zipped between him and Kuszczak.

Ten minutes later Chris Powell fed Ambrose on the left hand edge of box and the Charlton midfielder wheeled through 360 degrees before firing but his on target effort failed to beat West Brom’s Polish guardian.

When Ambrose was substituted in the 73rd minute for Jerome Thomas, there were boos at the withdrawing of a player well liked by the home fans.

Marcus Bent’s home Premiership debut continued its uneventful course, although he perhaps should have won a penalty in the 76th when Neil Clement brought him down in the box as they went for the same ball.

A score looked increasingly unlikely from either team and in the 80th minute the last chance of note arrived, Bryan Hughes latching on to a weak clearance from Kuszczak, final ank one of a number he made on the night and slipping it quickly to Darren Bent, who found himself in the middle of the box with a clear sight of goal.

Baggies defender Curtis Davies however was Johnny on the spot and his split-second tackle stole the ball from Bent as he cocked his leg to shoot.

Bryan Robson stayed in the dug out while Curbishley and assistant Keith Peacock stood together, deep in conversation but with no real options remaining.

Jay Bothroyd came on for the ineffectual Marcus Bent but failed to make an impact while tricky winger Jerome Thomas found himself alternately fouled or too starved of supply to make an impact.

Post match Addicks boss Alan Curbishley hailed a battling performance for eking out a result:

“It was a tough old game for us,” he told reporters. “West Brom came out of the blocks and looked sharp early on and we had to work our way back into the match.

West Brom’s Bryan Robson also took positives out of the 0:0 draw:

“We are down to the bare minimum with injuries, suspensions and the players away at the African Cup of Nations,” he said, adding “ If they keep performing like that I’m confident we will stay up.”

Celebrity Charlton fan Michael Grade CBESoccerphile spoke to celebrity Charlton fan Michael Grade CBE after the game and the former Chief Executive of Channel 4 and Controller of BBC1, now Charlton director, admitted West Brom had got their pressing tactics right.

“I thought West Bromwich came to spoil the game and they did it very effectively,” he commented. “I thought we battled but they did not give us a minute on the ball and we did not know how to handle it. We missed a couple of chances and they missed a couple of chances so I thought it was a fair result in the end.”

On a brighter note he added, “We are still in the Cup and the confidence is beginning to come back. I can remember games like that when we would have ended up losing 1-0 or 2-0.”