Leeds moved to avert the crisis hyperbole that another defensive dog day would have triggered by successfully erecting the barricades at the Hawthorns.

The result was a workmanlike point on the road at a frustrated West Brom which did nothing for the pulse rate but registered as a gain in terms of their season so far.

The game saw the first competitive outing for Leeds’s new yellow away kit, a retro throwback to past glory days complete with smiley badge.

The face Leeds presented was more of a gritted-teeth grimace but after conceding six goals in their first two games of the season the clean sheet was welcome.

Both clubs endured Championship playoff despair at the hands of Southampton last season, West Brom in the semi-final and Leeds at Wembley. Both are expected to feature in the promotion shake-up again this season. But the entertainment was a long way short of high-end fare.

Leeds manager Daniel Farke, spooked by his side’s missteps in their first two games, shied away from a pressing operation and instead concentrated on defensive rigidity.

The caution was understandable but did not go down with the throaty travelling support from West Yorkshire who urged a more attacking outlook.

Chances were at a premium with Leeds offering next to nothing by way of creativity and West Brom’s main threat being posed in the air from corners and Darnell Furlong’s trebuchet throw-ins.

Kyle Bartley had the home side’s nearest sight of goal in the first half from a free-kick floated in by John Swift but the fingertips of Leeds goalkeeper Illan Meslier wrongfooted the West Brom captain at the far post.

Leeds might have broken the deadlock from a set piece of their own late on but Pascal Struijk’s header was deflected just wide by West Brom defender Semi Ajayi.

Other than that the only incident of note was a reckless high challenge on Jayson Molumby four minutes before the break which saw Leeds full-back Junior Firpo booked by referee Sam Allison.

Molumby forced Meslier into his first meaningful save five minutes after half-time after the West Brom midfielder had started the counterattack from the edge of his own penalty area and the home side dominated territorially.

But on a rare Leeds sortie Joël Piroe should have done better with a 57th-minute chance after Mateo Joseph had crossed from the right only to divert it wide with his studs. Piroe had a poor 64 minutes in the No 10 role previously occupied by Brighton-bound Georginio Rutter until he was withdrawn.

The Rutter deal is not completed but with the French playmaker down on the south coast it is just a matter of dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s. He will be a big miss for a Leeds side struggling to overcome the loss of Crysencio Summerville to West Ham and Archie Gray to Tottenham in the summer.

Piroe’s replacement Joe Rothwell did set up Struijk from a corner as the second half ground towards its inevitable conclusion but the defender’s glancing header went wide.

In truth a winner for either side would have been undeserved from a game which needed putting out of its misery long before the final whistle.