Deon Burton given combined role in West Brom's academy

The 41-year-old, who played international football for Jamaica alongside head coach Darren Moore during a 20-year playing career, has been given the combined role after helping out in the academy for the past year.

The former Portsmouth, Derby, and Sheffield Wednesday striker said: “It’s an exciting opportunity and one that I would have been silly to turn down.

“I’ll be assisting Jamie Smith with the U23 group and I’m really looking forward to getting out on the grass and helping out there.

“I’ll also be making sure all the players who go out on loan are looked after and everything is right there.

“I’ll be the connection between both clubs, both managers and the player himself.

“I’ll be trying to make sure the transition is as smooth as possible for the player making the move.”

Moore used to run the loan system at the Baggies before he was promoted to first team coach by Alan Pardew last year.

“The gaffer is someone who I have known for a long time,” added Burton. “We played together for Jamaica and we had long chats about the position before I took the role.

“He said what would be expected and obviously having first-hand info from the person who had the job before is always helpful.

“He gave me a great insight into what the role involves and what will be expected. There’s nothing that will stumble me because Darren has already filled me in with the details.

“Being back in full-time football is great because it’s been what I have been used to for 20 years.

“I’m hoping to pass on as much experience from my playing career as I can.

“I played for plenty of teams during my career so I already know a lot of the managers throughout the leagues.

“That helps because I can pick up the phone and speak to them one-on-one about players."