Robson handed a lifeline on return to The Hawthorns as Blades make their point

The under-fire Sheffield United boss suffered horribly at the hands of his club's fans last Saturday against Scunthorpe and on his first return to the Hawthorns since his sacking 17 months ago, the knives were out again.

But far from giving up the ghost against Tony Mowbray's side, who rediscovered their fine art of passing football in the second half after a dismal opening period, Robson's team for once did his talking.

The stalemate may not look too inspiring, but it should make his meeting today in Brussels with chairman Kevin McCabe slightly more convivial.

The United supremo lives there and did not make the trip to West Bromwich. That was a shame because it was difficult to tell which of these two were keener for the points.

Both sides displayed early signs of defensive nervousness. Albion were left looking like statues in their own penalty area in the fourth minute when Lee Martin's cross bounced around like a pinball.

It finally arrived at David Cotterill's feet and he had plenty of the target to aim at, but failed miserably from six yards.

Sixty seconds later at the other end, Chris Brunt used his left foot to good effect, swinging over a cross that was met by the head of Filipe Teixeira.

The diminutive Portuguese is not renowned for his aerial ability, but he was only the width of a post away from changing that.

Once that initial excitement was over and the game found a pattern, and the home crowd turned their attention to the visitors' manager.

Given the distinction with which Robson served Albion before his move to Manchester United and the profit the club banked following the sales of Curtis Davies and Diomansy Kamara - the thick end of £12m - it was saddening to hear the fans begin a chorus of 'You're getting sacked in the morning.'

Still, at least Robson could console himself with the thought that this time it wasn't the United fans who had made him the subject of their disaffection as they had during and after the goalless stalemate with Scunthorpe four days ago.

For all their hard work in countering Albion's passing style, an elementary error almost cost United dear.

A deep Paul Robinson cross was aimed at no one in particular. Defenders Matthew Kilgallon and Gary Naysmith managed to get in each other's way, however, and the latter was fortunate that the referee was unsighted as the ball appeared to make contact with the Scot's arm as the pair finally cleared.

On the stroke of half-time, Albion were given a warning the match was far from won as Kilgallon charged on to Martin's corner but nodded wide.

United keeper Paddy Kenny's ample girth had come to his aid in the first half when Kevin Phillips' long-range shot struck him in the midriff.

But he did well to get down to Jonathan Greening's shot seven minutes after the restart. The midfielder's low drive from 25 yards appeared to have wrong-footed him but he changed direction in mid-air to get a hand on the ball.