West Brom 1 Sheffield United 0: Old head stands out despite Blades bowing out of cup

United goalkeeper Wes Foderingham made a number of impressive saves to keep Albion at bay while, at the other end, debuts for loan starlets James McAtee and Reda Khadra could not inspire the Blades as they lost 1-0.

Oliver Arblaster, the highly-rated teenage midfielder handed a debut in midfield alongside Ollie Norwood and John Fleck, showed nice moments of composure early on and McAtee was busy, slipping in Rhian Brewster to race clear and hit Palmer’s post with a well-struck effort.

But that was as good as it got for the Blades, although Khadra did volley narrowly wide later in the second half before being substituted.

The hosts had their moments too early on, Alex Mowatt somehow placing wide from a cut-back and then ex-Owl Adam Reach sent clear and forcing United’s Anel Ahmedhodzic to defend smartly.

Both Khadra and McAtee were clearly desperate to impress on their debuts, shooting from long-range, but it was Arblaster who continued to look the most accomplished of United’s young stars, casually chesting the ball off to Norwood before spraying a pass out wide that the serial promotion winner would have been proud of.

After McAtee saw decent appeals for a penalty waved away, Wes Foderingham excelled at the other end with his first real action of the game. Reyes Cleary was sent clear with a ball over the top and despite having the freedom of the Midlands to pick his spot, he saw his effort brilliantly smothered by Foderingham.

The United goalkeeper did well later in the half to palm away Reach’s effort and on the only occasion the Baggies beat him in the first half, Kyron Gordon was on hand to block away Mowatt’s effort on the line.

Foderingham began the seocnd half as he’d ended the first, palming away Robinson’s shot acrobatically, but United could, and should, have gone ahead through a quick break from Brewster. He slipped in Khadra and made a superb run for the return pass, which didn’t come; the Brighton loanee tried to go himself and his follow-up effort, on the volley, flashed just wide.

McAtee’s debut ended prematurely with about 20 minutes remaining, the young man appearing to hobble to the bench as he was replaced by his City teammate Tommy Doyle for his Blades bow, while Foderingham excelled again with a great reaction stop to keep out Reach’s powerful downward header.

Foderingham was eventually beaten by substitute Karlan Grant, heading home just moments after being introduced off the bench, and he and former Blade Callum Robinson both struck Foderingham's crossbar within seconds of each other as Albion looked to extend their lead.

Of bigger concern for Paul Heckingbottom and Co. will be injury concerns over a number of players, including Ben Osborn and Anel Ahmedhodzic.

West Brom: Palmer, O’Shea, Bartley (Townsend, 70), Robinson (Fellows, 85), Phillips, Reach, Ashworth, Mowatt, Cleary (Grant, 70, Swift, 85), Gardner-Hickman, Yokuslu (Molumby, 60).

Subs not used: Cann, Ajayi, Wallace, Ingram.

Blades: Foderingham, Gordon, Ahmedhodzic (Clark, 70), Egan, Lowe, Norwood, Arblaster, Fleck (Osborn, 46, Berge 75), McAtee (Doyle, 70), Khadra (Sharp, 74), Brewster.

Subs not used: Amissah, Baldock, Norrington-Davies, Jebbison.