ROY Hodgson reckons England Under-21 boss Stuart Pearce got more than he bargained for when he watched Albion cruise past Bournemouth in the Carling Cup on Tuesday night.
Pearce made the trip to the south coast to see young Baggies defender Craig Dawson make his full competitive debut for the club, and rewarded him with his first call-up to the squad.
But Albion head coach Hodgson knows that Pearce would also have witnessed George Thorne’s dominant performance in the centre of midfield and will now have him in his mind for the future.
“I spoke to Stuart Pearce and I know he was there to watch Craig Dawson but I think he will also have cast an eye over George,” said Hodgson.
“George is young, he’s keen, he wants to learn and he will get better and better.
“I would endorse it if he was to get an England under-21 call-up.”
Thorne’s rapid rise has seen him progress from an academy hopeful to a regular first-team squad member.
It’s been a similar story for 21-year-old Dawson too, who was playing non-league football for Radcliffe Borough less than three years ago.
The ex-Rochdale centre-half made his first start in blue and white stripes in the 4-1 win and won over Pearce who decided to include him in the squad for next month’s games.
He will now be a part of the 27-man squad to face Azerbaijan in a European Championship qualifier at Watford FC on September 1 and Israel in a friendly at Barnsley four days later.
Dawson has already shown his talent in pre-season after a successful campaign in League One last year and is applying pressure on Albion’s senior defenders.
Another player to impress Hodgson in Tuesday’s victory, which featured none of the players who started Saturday’s Premier League game at Chelsea, was Graham Dorrans.
The Scottish international lined up alongside Thorne in the centre of midfield and put in a display that shows he is edging back to his best.
“The best thing I can say is that with Thorne and Graham Dorrans in there you weren’t aware that one hadn’t played for a while and the other was a young lad,” added Hodgson.
“Graham has missed a lot of football and now he has Scottish games coming up.
“We shall see more of him in October and November.”
