West Brom rebuff Burnley on Craig Dawson

A second Burnley offer for Craig Dawson has been dismissed as "derisory" by West Brom as they continue to play hard ball in the transfer market.

The newly-promoted Premier League outfit want the England under-21 defender and have been back in with an offer which crept over the £1.5m mark.

But Burnley will have to add another million to that just to get Albion to the negotiating table, as the Hawthorns club continues to rebuff all attempts to blow further holes in a squad still under-manned for the season ahead.

That stance mirrors the club's reaction to Derby's efforts to take George Thorne on a permanent deal despite both the midfielder and Dawson lodging transfer requests this summer.

Thorne and Dawson featured in last night's first public pre-season friendly, a 2-1 victory at Shrewsbury, and are due to leave on Albion's American tour tomorrow.

Head coach Alan Irvine again stressed afterwards that he wants both players to stay and on the latest Dawson offer said: "My first signing after I came in was Joleon Lescott.

"That was so we could have four centre-backs that I feel comfortable with. And right now we have four centre-backs I am comfortable with.

"I'm not wanting to lose any of those centre-backs. Craig is on the way up. He's played for England under-21s, he's 24-years-old and he's not a player we want to lose."

"I think he will stay with us. He's going with us to the States and it'll take a very good bid for anyone to make the club accept it. He is an important player for us.

"If we were to lose Craig we would need to replace him because we would need another up-and-coming centre-half who has played in the Premier League and I'm not sure where you find those."