SOCCER pundit Rodney Marsh breathed a sigh of relief as Blackburn Rovers gave West Brom a harsh lesson in the art of Premiership survival courtesy of goals from comeback kids Dwight Yorke and Damien Duff.

The outspoken Sky analyst recently incensed Baggies fans when he tipped Albion for an automatic return to Division One and described the summer-signing of Sean Gregan as 'putting lipstick on a pig'.

However, far from backing down from those comments, the former England striker then agreed to put his money where his mouth is and suffer the consequences for charity if Gary Megson's team proved him wrong.

Albion fans, eager to rub his nose in it, promptly dreamt up a suitable forfeit via a competition on the club's website whereby Marsh must sing a version of 'The Lord is My Shepherd' in the centre circle at the Hawthorns should West Brom survive.

And they had started to believe that prospect had a chance of coming true when their team then defied the critics with three straight victories which catapulted them up to the heady heights of seventh in the table.

However, it took a slick second half performance from Rovers to bring a sense of reality back to the Black Country as Graeme Souness's Worthington Cup heroes underlined Albion's frailties with their second away win of the season.

Megson's team are as honest as the day is long and no-one can expect an easy ride here over the next eight months.

But even with all their current injury problems, Rovers still had that little extra quality in reserve which makes the difference once you start mixing it with the big boys.

And, from the moment Yorke finally cracked the home side's resistance with his second goal of the season from the penalty spot in the 71st minute, there was only ever going to be one winner -- much to Marsh's relief -- as Rovers geared up for Thursday night's UEFA Cup adventure in impressive style.

"We had to work hard for this result tonight," said Souness.

"We knew before the game what type of night we were in for. It was going to be a hard, physical battle but we felt if we matched them in that department then we were always going to cause problems and create chances.

"And, as it turned out, we took our chances when they came."

It was obvious from a quick glance at the pre-match statistics that this was never going to be a six-goal thriller and so it proved.

West Brom, who have become more adept at the 1-0 scoreline than even George Graham's Arsenal, had already been involved in four other such scorelines prior to this clash.

And on their march to promotion last season, an astonishing 24 of their matches were won with a solitary goal as Megson placed his trust in a competent defence to compensate for a less than fluid forward-line.

Add to that the fact that the previous two meetings between these old adversaries had also finished in 1-0 victories and it didn't take a genius to work out this was always going to be another close encounter.

With that in mind, Souness opted for a 4-5-1 formation with neither Andy Cole nor Dwight Yorke deemed fit enough to start up front.

But he was forced to change that strategy within the opening 15 minutes after Garry Flitcroft injured his shoulder in a collision with giant defender Darren Moore which prompted Cole's early introduction.

As a result, Rovers took a while to find their feet as Duff and David Thompson struggled to impose their usual authority down the flanks.

Albion, for all their defensive solidarity, lacked flamboyance going forward and their only real chance of the first half came direct from a set-piece.

Igor Balis slung over a free-kick to the far post where the loitering Moore rose to power a header goalwards but his effort flew agonisingly over the bar.

After that, though, it was all Rovers but despite all their neat approach work they never really looked capable of prising open Albion's miserly defence.

Duff volleyed wide, a 40 yard effort from Tugay screamed past a post and Cole and Egil Ostenstad failed to hit the target with two headers in the space of a minute right on the stroke of half-time.

Souness clearly felt he needed to freshen things up in the second half and threw on Yorke and Keith Gillespie and that suddenly gave Rovers more purpose as an attacking force.

Whoever scored first was always going to be vital and they finally made the all-important breakthrough in the 71st minute in somewhat controversial circumstances.

Ronnie Wallwork started tugging at Duff's shirt outside the box but, as the Irishman tumbled into the area, the referee pointed to the spot and Yorke grabbed the ball in the absence of David Dunn to confidently stroke home the resulting penalty.

That took the pressure off and the points were then wrapped up in style five minutes later when Rovers added a second with a clinical counter-attack.

Brad Friedel hurled the ball out to Lucas Neill on the left who in turn found Cole on the halfway line with a well-flighted pass and the rest was pure poetry.

In the blink of an eye, the former England man chested it down and spun past two defenders before slipping a cleverly weighted pass through to the galloping Duff who rounded keeper Russell Hoult before stroking the ball into the vacant net.

Sadly, the gloss was then taken off an otherwise excellent night's work when Yorke pulled up with a recurrence of his hamstring injury in the closing stages.

Given time, that should heal but West Brom's symptoms look far more serious.

WEST BROM 0 ROVERS 2

Yorke (p) 71, Duff 76

Attendance...25,170