Club News

Dawson hails Albion’s set-piece service

Defender scored his first Baggies goal against Burnley

CRAIG Dawson has praised the delivery of Albion’s set-pieces after registering his first goal for the club after 38 appearances.

The defender opened the scoring for the Baggies in the 30th minute of yesterday's 4-0 home success over Burnley, heading home Chris Brunt’s left-footed corner.

Albion then doubled their lead on the stroke of half-time as Saido Berahino nodded home at the back post, after Graham Dorrans flicked on James Morrison’s corner at the near post.

Morrison had profited from a set-piece himself last weekend in the 1-0 win at Tottenham, finishing off another Brunt corner.

And centre-half Dawson knew that set plays would be important against a defensively astute Burnley side.

“We knew that set-pieces were going to be important in both penalty areas,” the 24-year-old said.

“The delivery was brilliant and we managed to get two goals from set-pieces.

“I have been getting a bit of stick from the lads about not scoring.

“Finally one has gone my way."

Dawson has played a key role in recent weeks as Albion recorded back-to-back clean sheets in the Premier League for the first time since April 2012.

His centre-half pairing with Joleon Lescott has been widely praised, but Dawson insists it is a team effort.

“It is always great to keep a clean sheet,” the former England Under-21 international said.

“It’s a team effort and everyone is working really hard from back to front.

“It has been a great week for us.

“We have two very important games coming up.

“We have to make sure we prepare properly for those games."