New West Brom manager Alan Pardew believes he saw enough in his new side's 0-0 draw with Crystal Palace on Saturday to suggest they will pull away from the Premier League drop zone.
The Baggies sit in 17th place and are just three points ahead of Roy Hodgson's side, who leapfrogged Swansea City and West Ham as they moved off the bottom of the table with Saturday's draw at the Hawthorns.
Hal Robson-Kanu and Jay Rodriguez missed gilt-edged chances to hand Pardew a win in his first game in charge after taking over on Wednesday, but the former Palace boss was content with the performance – if not the result.
"If we work like that every week, I will be pleased," he told BBC Sport.
"We had a lot of quality not available, with injured players. We lacked a bit around the box but in terms of effort, we were very good.
"We bossed the game, except for one spell. Palace are in a good place. They are difficult to break down. Having said that, we created some nice moments.
Alan Pardew is now unbeaten in the opening match at his last five clubs...December 2, 2017
"Some composure and we might have won. We were really good in the second half. I'm looking forward to working with the guys.
"With Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Wilfried Zaha, you have to be on your toes. We didn't give them any opportunities."
Palace's failure to score means they have now gone 10 top-flight away games without finding the net – the first team to do so since Manchester City in 1950.
Hodgson, however, revealed his side had endured a difficult trip and considers it a point gained, rather than two dropped.
"In the build-up to the game, everything that could go wrong did go wrong," he told BT Sport.
"We spent hours on a train stuck on the tracks. We lost Scott Dann overnight and Wayne Hennessey in the warm-up. The scenario couldn't have been much worse.
"But I'm really pleased with the way we played and it was a well-deserved and valuable point."
