Norwich City 1, Albion 1

One of the many challenges confronting Albion in the Premier League will be coping with a smaller share of possession than they have been accustomed to in the Championship.

The quality they produce when they have the ball will be crucial to their chances of scoring enough goals and winning enough games to survive.

It is not sufficient, as Middlesbrough discovered to their cost last season, to be solid and defensively disciplined.

Chris Hughton will be looking for an improvement in possession when Albion complete their preparations against Girona in Spain tomorrow night and Atletico Madrid at the Amex on Sunday.

That was the aspect which concerned him in the draw against his old club Norwich at Carrow Road.

Mathew Ryan, playing his first 90 minutes in goal since arriving from Valencia via Australia and the Confederations Cup, had virtually nothing to do again after a first half of unemployment at Crawley.

He had no chance with the sweet 42nd minute strike from Marley Watkins, which cancelled out Pascal Gross's neat header.

And he was helpless when Norwich substitute Nelson Oliveira drifted inside to almost win the game in the closing stages with a rasping effort from 25 yards which rebounded off the far post.

The problem - and the issue occupying Hughton's thoughts - is that Angus Gunn had even less to do at the other end.

Hughton said: "If you look at the two sides of the game, it was a wonderful strike from Oliveira towards the end.

"Apart from that, Maty wasn't really troubled too much. So from that aspect it was a good, working performance.

"I was reasonably happy with that, but we needed to be better on the ball.

"In the Premier League, we are going to have games where we have got to keep the ball better. We expect there to be some teams who are going to be very much possession-based."

You could not argue with Albion's clinical ratio. Gross took just about the only opportunity they had, apart from a second half header by Izzy Brown (below) which drifted wide.

The Argus: They are deprived for the time being of the infectious spark of Anthony Knockaert while the Frenchman recovers from ankle ligament damage.

The addition of another central midfielder and No.9 will also increase the penetration required to finish above the bottom three.

"One thing you have got to be able to do in the Premier League is score goals," Hughton said. "You can be resilient and try to be as solid as possible, but you are going to have to win games.

"From that point of view, you have got to be able to create and to score. That's why it's the biggest part of the team and the most expensive generally when you are looking at good-quality, offensive players.

"We certainly need some additions to the squad, there's no doubt about that, and I'm quite sure that will happen."

What of the signings so far? It is hard to judge Ryan on his limited involvement. He is smaller than many modern keepers and has a more continental approach, with a high starting position, often well outside his area when the opposition are in the build-up phase.

This is due not just to playing in Spain and Belgium but also at international level. Australia regard him as the first line of attack, as well as the last line of defence.

The Argus: Markus Suttner, who played as a left-wingback much of the time for Ingolstadt last season, was pushed further forward when Gaetan Bong (above) came on at left-back for the second half at the expense of Jamie Murphy.

He has demonstrated his crossing and set piece abilities, but first and foremost it is sound defending Hughton will demand from the former Austrian international.

Suttner's ex-Ingolstadt team-mate Gross looks a shrewd signing. He took his second goal of the pre-season programme expertly, guiding a header well beyond Gunn into the far corner from Bruno's inviting cross to the near post.

Brown, after making his debut out on the left at Southend within hours of arriving on loan from Chelsea, replaced Gross as the No.10 for the second half.

Hughton said: "It was a very good cross and a good goal. That's what Pascal can do in that No.10 role. He can break forward. He's a player that covers a lot of ground and you need that type of flexibility.

"I was also pleased with Izzy, because he's a bit behind everybody else as regards the intensity of his training. We had a really good week in Austria and he didn't have that with us but players like Pascal and Izzy I think are going to be invaluable for us.

"It's very difficult to consistently play 4-4-2 in the Premier League and what you are now finding is a lot of teams that want to be able to get two players up front are opting to go three at the back, more of a 3-4-3 or 3-5-2, which is what we were up against.

"It's not one that I've worked on so much or thought about but, as a coach, particularly in the top division, you've got to be open."

Minded that is, not open at the back. Albion will not be that. Whether they can open doors at the other end is another matter.