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Tottenham had to settle for a point against managerless West Brom in Tim Sherwood's first game as Spurs' permanent head coach.

Spurs took the lead through a superb Christian Eriksen free-kick that hit the bar and bounced in.

But, two minutes later, Eriksen gave away a free-kick which Jonas Olsson prodded home from close range to level.

The closest Spurs came to a winner came when Ben Foster clawed Kyle Walker's 30-yard shot to safety.

Sherwood has promised to continue playing attacking football after getting the nod to replace Andre Villas-Boas on a full-time basis earlier this week, but his team lacked fluency going forward against a determined Baggies side.

West Brom are yet to appoint a successor to Steve Clarke, who lost his job two days before Villas-Boas was sacked on 16 December, but the uncertainty over who will get the position did not affect their performance, and neither did fielding a much-changed team.

The Baggies have now gone eight games without a win but, to put a more positive spin on their current form, caretaker boss Keith Downing has picked up a point in each of his two games in temporary charge.

His side were good value for their draw in north London, too. With Matej Vydra operating on his own up front, the visitors focused on soaking up Spurs' pressure and hitting them on the break.

That tactic brought them two excellent early chances, with Vydra denied by Hugo Lloris twice in quick succession, first after a one-two with Zoltan Gera and then after James Morrison sent him galloping clear.

Tottenham were seeing plenty of the ball but Eriksen's spectacular free-kick, which gave them the lead after 36 minutes, was their first meaningful effort on goal.

That memorable strike was immediately cancelled out, however, because of some more uncertain defending by the home side.

After Morrison was fouled, Spurs had several opportunities to clear Morgan Amalfitano's free-kick but they failed to do so and Olsson was in the right place to take advantage.

The second half saw Spurs continue to dominate possession but clear-cut chances were hard to come by for either side.

Steven Reid brought a good stop from Lloris with another free-kick, from an almost identical position to where Eriksen had struck before the break, but that was the only time the Baggies threatened to win it.

At the other end, the visitors were working hard to keep Spurs at bay. Reid was fortunate not to get a second yellow card for a late lunge on Danny Rose and, from the resulting free-kick, Walker brought the best save of the game from Foster.

Gylfi Sigurdsson and Roberto Soldado both flicked headers into the side netting of Foster's goal before the end, but the winner that the home fans craved never really looked like arriving.

Tottenham head coach Tim Sherwood: "It was frustrating. We did not get the rub of the green in the second half.

"We had a lot of possession, and kept delivering balls into their box but they defended well and we give them credit for that. On another day it might have fallen for us in certain areas and it would have been easier for us."

"But I think we will improve. It has been difficult [since he got the job permanently] because it has been hectic and the number of the games means we have not been able to have too much instruction to the boys in training.

"It's a new voice and we are asking them to play a slightly different manner and hopefully they are going to get better and better at it."