Darren Moore has no doubts over Craig Dawson's commitment to West Brom
Darren Moore decided to give Craig Dawson the captain’s armband because he doesn’t doubt his commitment to the Baggies.
Dawson was made skipper for the 4-2 win over Bristol City on Tuesday night in Chris Brunt’s absence, despite agitating for a move in the summer.
The centre-back was handed a club fine after refusing to go on Moore’s pre-season training camp to Portugal amid interest from Burnley and West Ham and also handed in a transfer request in the summer.
Dawson was in a sullen mood throughout the majority of pre-season and didn’t feature in the first five games of the campaign.
But Moore gave him the armband in just his third league start of the season – and Albion’s boss said he had no problems doing it.
“I don’t doubt Craig Dawson’s commitment to the football club one bit,” said Moore, when asked about his choice of captain.
“Ever since he came to West Brom and pulled the shirt on he’s always given whole-hearted committed performances and I think you’ve seen another one [against Bristol City].
"I’ve no problem with him leading the team out and I’m delighted for him that we’ve come away with three points with him as skipper. There’s nothing sweeter for him.”
Albion rejected a £15million bid for Dawson from West Ham early in the window when David Moyes was still Hammers boss, and also turned down a £10m bid from Burnley mid-way through the summer.
They stuck steadfastly to their £20m valuation of the 28-year-old, but having missed out on his move, Dawson was not re-integrated into the team straight away.
Dawson said he was proud to wear the captain’s armband for the first time in his career.
“It was great to be captain and to wear the armband but more important than anything else is that we got the win,” he said.
“It was obviously important to bounce back, I think everyone was disappointed with the overall performance against Birmingham.”
The annual general meeting of the main branch of the Albion Supporters’ Club was due to take place at The Hawthorns tonight but it has had to be postponed due to a booking error.
Chairman John Homer expects the AGM to go ahead in October instead.
