Watford 1, Albion 1

Albion should seriously consider re-assessing their attacking options before Sami Hyypia's first season in charge becomes wasted.

They are two-thirds a good team. The final third is letting them down.

The Seagulls are near the bottom, Watford near the top, yet Hyypia's side followed up their previous away game at Nottingham Forest by demonstrating again they are more than a match for the leading teams in most areas of the pitch.

Albion and Watford have both conceded 12 goals but Watford's tally of 20 is double that of Hyypia's goal-shy outfit. It is pretty obvious where the difference lies.

Watford have the injured Troy Deeney, who would have scored more than three if he had not been sidelined. They also have Matej Vydra (four goals) to back him up.

Nottingham Forest have Britt Assombalonga (eight), Norwich Cameron Jerome and Lewis Grabban (six apiece), Derby Chris Martin (six), Ipswich Daryl Murphy (six).

Middlesbrough, Albion's next opponents, have Enrique Garcia Martinez (four) and the bonus of a free-scoring midfielder in Grant Leadbitter (six).

The recurring pattern among the top six is they have a powerful predator, or predators, on the teamsheet, a name for opposition defences to fear.

Albion lack that fear factor following the departure of Leo Ulloa.

They could persevere with what they have in the belief that it will eventually click or look to the emergency loan window, which shuts at the end of November, for a solution.

They may already have missed the boat but it is worth a try. The January transfer window could be too late.

This is not a panic measure. The season is already a quarter old. Albion have gone seven games without a win, they have drawn the last four.

They are close to being good enough to challenge. The defence is fine and in Kazenga LuaLua, Paddy McCourt and Joao Teixeira they have players capable of making things happen.

It is the final bit that is missing. The international break offers an opportunity to take a step back, recognise where it is not quite going right and attempt to rectify it.

Except for at Birmingham, before he had his squad in place, and the odd half here and there, Albion have generally performed well so far under Hyypia, better than the tables indicates.

They do not have the feel of a team that will remain in trouble but they have to be careful. Bolton, like Fulham, will probably improve now that the manager is changing.

There are no obvious strugglers apart from Blackpool, who Albion could not beat at home and who have just secured their first win against Cardiff, another side the Seagulls could not beat at the Amex.

Albion did not play as fluently at Vicarage Road as they did against the Welshmen four days earlier but they were ultimately good value for a point and should have taken all three once they were level.

A couple of individual mistakes have cost them a run of five consecutive clean sheets in all competitions.

Against Cardiff it was a rush of blood from David Stockdale, against Watford it was Rohan Ince's failure to stand firm in the defensive wall.

Albion had looked comfortable until the 53rd minute, when Daniel Tozser's 25-yard free-kick went through the gap vacated by Ince next to Bruno, leaving Stockdale stranded covering the other side of his net.

Hyypia was not impressed. He said: "I didn't even think that it was a good free-kick. When that kind of free-kick goes in you can't be very happy with that. Those are basic things. If you are in the wall you stand there, even if you get arrows towards you." Albion had been as impotent as Watford as an attacking force up to that point but the goal changed everything.

Hyypia made positive substitutions. LuaLua immediately replaced the ineffective Adrian Colunga.

Ince was withdrawn, due more to Danny Holla's greater ability in possession than the wall incident.

With a quarter of the contest left Albion had LuaLua, Teixeira and McCourt, taking over from the unfortunately injured Andrew Crofts, on the pitch together for the first time.

The transformation was dramatic, sparked by LuaLua's direct running and committing of defenders as soon as he came on. He injected a tempo and urgency previously absent.

Albion still needed Lewis Dunk to rescue a point. He has been a revelation this season, not because of his composed defending but his goalscoring.

He has four now, all headers, after nodding the equaliser from LuaLua's inviting corner with 13 minutes left. Without the two points saved by Dunk against Watford and Charlton Albion would be just above the drop zone.

It was once parity was restored that they missed a predator's touch most, to apply the finish to crosses pinged in primarily by LuaLua. They were grateful instead to Stockdale denying Vydra late-on to avoid a harsh defeat.

Hyypia said: "I need to accept a point, even if I didn't want to. We played much better in the second half and had the chances to win the game.

"It wasn't good to concede that kind of goal when it goes through the wall. Then you are chasing the game but we showed a reaction.

"It was frustrating that we conceded that kind of goal. It's frustrating as well that with one point every game you are not going to go higher in the table.

"It would be easier to change something if we played badly. It is only a little adjustment we need to make. We need to be more clinical and maybe more determined in the final third when we have a chance that we put the ball in the back of the net, then we will win games for sure."

Can that little adjustment come from what Albion already have? It is up to Tony Bloom to sanction any additional transfer activity. The poker-playing chairman and owner has to decide now whether to stick or twist.