Scott Allan is not ready – yet
Friday 27th January 2012, 10:08AM GMT.
Roy Hodgson today admitted new signing Scott Allan is not ready for a full Albion debut – but the Scotsman could be involved in FA Cup action tomorrow.
The 20-year-old made his first appearance in Baggies colours in Tuesday’s 2-0 reserves win at home to Swansea after moving for £300,000 from Dundee United earlier this month.
But while the Scotland Under-21 midfielder might get a seat on the substitutes’ bench tomorrow, Hodgson has revealed he is unlikely to figure from the start.
“He is not ready to start because we have a style of play and we need our players to be in tune, not just when they’re on the ball but when they’re not on the ball,” said Hodgson.
“On the ball I would say he could go in and play Premier League football tomorrow.
“But he’s got a lot to learn in terms of his positional play and what we expect of players when the ball is lost and how we expect them to defend, how we expect them to take up new positions,” added Hodgson. “The same applies with the ball.
“I thought it was positive on Tuesday, he was every bit as positive as I expected him to be.
“But I still think it would be very early to throw him into a game of this magnitude until he has had more time with us.”
Hodgson pointed to the coaching work “that gives us the type of shape that has given us some success so far”, adding: “We’re not prepared to throw all that out of the window and then just go straight down the road of seeing what an individual can do.
“He has got to be able to blend in with the team. But he was very positive on Tuesday, he gave everything just as I expected.
“The flaws in his game are there simply because he hasn’t had a chance to work with us and find out what we expect from it.
“We’re talking about not playing him from the start but that’s not to say he won’t be involved in some capacity.”
UK Sport
Latest Blog — A week is a long time in football
This time last week we were staring down the barrel, third from bottom with a worse record than at the same stage last year, writes Saddlers blogger Mark Jones.
Saddlers Blog
Business Awards
Book a Business Awards table
Join our celebrations of the region's best in business on Thursday March 22 - book your table now
Lifestyle
Interactive Dining Out map
Hundreds of reviews by the Express & Star and Shropshire Star's teams to help you decide where to eat.
entertainment
All the film reviews
Before you plan a trip to the pictures, get our critics' verdicts on all the latest movie releases
OUR NEW APP
Get the new E&S app
Download the Express & Star’s new app to your iPad or iPhone to get one week of access to our digital newspapers absolutely FREE.
expressandstar.com
Popular sections
Useful links
