Jonny Evans' late own goal earned the visitors a 2-2 draw after Ciaran Clark had begun a second-half revival.

Hal Robson-Kanu and Sam Field put Albion in command at The Hawthorns but their winless run now stretches to 13 games in all competitions.

Alan Pardew is expected to be appointed the Baggies' new boss after they sacked Tony Pulis and he is due to inherit a side two points above the Premier League relegation zone.

Newcastle's comeback moved them up to 12th and five points clear of the bottom three ahead of a weekend trip to Chelsea.

Pardew is tipped to become the Baggies' new manager but was not at The Hawthorns to watch Albion against one of his former clubs.

Should he be confirmed as Pulis' successor this week, as seems increasingly likely, he will face Palace - the club he left almost 12 months ago - on Saturday.

Whenever Pardew watches the highlights he will be forgiven for skipping a drab opening and then would not have been best pleased with what he did see.

It took until the 19th minute for either side to threaten and when Newcastle did Ahmed Hegazi and Ben Foster almost gifted them a goal, defender Hegazi heading the ball away from a scrambling Foster.

There had been little threat from the Baggies but, just over a minute later, Salomon Rondon's ambitious dipping effort from 30 yards clipped the top of Karl Darlow's bar.

Darlow then claimed Robson-Kanu's weak header before Albion's Wales international prodded wide under pressure.

They were warnings Newcastle failed to heed as, in first-half stoppage time, the hosts went ahead when Kieran Gibbs picked out Robson-Kanu at the far post to head in from two yards.

The opener sparked the game to life and Albion doubled their lead 11 minutes after the restart.

Matt Phillips was given time to cross from the right and found the onrushing and unmarked Field to volley in his first senior goal from six yards.

Yet Albion's two-goal lead lasted just three minutes as Clark crashed in a far-post header from Matt Ritchie's corner.

Robson-Kanu shot straight at Darlow soon after but Newcastle earned a point with seven minutes left when Ritchie's driven free-kick struck Evans and beat Foster.