West Brom 0 Wanderers 2 Match report by BEN Chief Soccer Writer Gordon Sharrock THERE'S nothing more comforting, when you think you have problems, to see somebody worse off than yourself.

Sam Allardyce has entered a new season having to make do and mend, using the loan system and short-term contracts to reinforce his stricken squad.

But green-eyed Albion boss Gary Megson would gladly have swapped places on Saturday evening after Wanderers had frustrated the living daylights out of his highly-rated strikeforce and punished his pathetic defence.

Rival managers aren't always prepared to pass judgment on the opposition, especially so early in the season but Megson assessed the strength in depth that allowed Big Sam to turn out a winning team while so many key players were unavailable and he couldn't resist offering a forecast.

"They can still put out a team that's full of internationals," the Baggies' boss acknowledged. "They've got a lot of experienced players and a lot of quality players from the time they were in the Premiership so I would expect them to do okay."

Better than Albion, you fancy, on the evidence of a game that set the standard for future excursions.

Wanderers knew they had to be strong defensively and they were; they knew they had to take their chances when they came along and they did.

And whether they have met Albion at just the right time - before they've had chance to integrate their new £2 million striker, Jason Roberts, into their attack - matters not. They've chalked up an away win at the first attempt, shown they can be mean at the back and patient enough to wait for the attacking opportunities to present themselves.

There were times when they did not look like getting the three points (Allardyce's vein-popping rantings on the touchline told you that) but that's not to say they didn't deserve their victory or the first of the clean sheets the manager will chalk off with relish as the season unfolds. He wants at least 20.

This one was particularly pleasing because he'd made no secret in advance of his respect for Roberts, a young striker he'd seen lead the Bristol Rovers attack for the last two seasons. He'd even revealed that, if he'd had £2 million to spend on a striker, this is the one he'd have bought!

In harness with the prolific Hughes, he represented a formidable threat but for the second game in a row the Baggies drew a blank - even after sending on Bob Taylor as an extra pair of hands - and for that Wanderers can thank their defence and, in particular, the back three.

Allardyce has started the campaign with a three centre-back formation, mainly out of necessity because he has no wingers to operate the 4-4-2 system he used last season. But, whatever the reasoning, it's working a treat. Apart from the 15 to 20 minute spell at the start of the second half of the Burnley game, Gudni Bergsson, Anthony Barness and Mark Fish have looked precisely what they are - experienced, quality defenders who know their individual jobs and can work well together.

Fish did have the odd aberration at the Hawthorns and escaped on a couple of occasions - extricating himself from one potentially fatal situation with as spectacular a saving tackle as you'd ever wish to see. Nevertheless, it wasn't until the 87th minute that Jussi Jaaskelainen had to show his international class when he held Richard Sneekes' close-range shot.

By then the game was won, although Hughes still had time to rattle the crossbar with a header from Taylor's cross that showed the potential potency of the Albion attack - provided Megson can hit on the right combination, which he doesn't appear to have done as yet!

The actual winning of the match was down to Wanderers having the players capable of launching counter-attacks with pace and penetration and the men in attack capable of finishing them off.

Despite taking a while to settle after their late arrival at the ground and having to cope with Albion's positive start, they still managed a couple of early raids which ended with Isaiah Rankin and Bo Hansen getting into good positions for headers the Dane in particular should have done better with. But they combined almost telepathically to put the finishing touch to the sweeping move that put Wanderers ahead - against the run of play - in the 23rd minute.

Leam Richardson, an early substitute for the injured Simon Charlton, started it, Per Frandsen took it on and with a four-against-three advantage Hansen's instinctive backheel left Rankin to display the confidence and accuracy that should make him a major asset during his three-month stay.

Megson moaned that, apart from the tigerish Derek McInnes, his midfield was no match for the Bolton quintet in which Frandsen, Franck Passi and Gareth Farrelly were central figures. It was their efforts, on and off the ball, that led to Wanderers gaining control.

Farrelly, out of the picture so much last season for one reason or another, had a couple of half-chances to double the lead but succeeded at the third attempt, calmly 'passing' the ball into the net in the 75th minute after Dean Holdsworth's initial shot had rebounded off Matt Carbon.

Holdsworth had replaced Rankin in a tactical substitution that put some much needed punch into the attack and gave the fit-again record signing a chance to show that he is ready to carry on where he left off last season ... at the top of his form!

Charlton's injury might have added to the problems but slowly but surely things are getting better for Sam Allardyce.

And as Megson suggested: Crisis! What crisis?