Hodgson keen to hang on to Dawson

West Brom boss Roy Hodgson will not be letting young defender Craig Dawson go out on loan this season.

Dawson has just signed a new three-year contract at West Brom after starting his career at non-league Radcliffe Borough.

The 21-year-old has since climbed the ranks of the Football League and now, according to Hodgson, is an important part of the Premier League outfit.

Although his appearances have been limited, he has impressed the manager on the training field and is now seen as cover for the first-team defensive pair Jonas Olsson and Gareth McAuley.

“He’s only been back at the club since the start of the season and we’ve been very impressed with him, his attitude and his desire,” Hodgson told the club’s official website.

“We think he’s getting better all the time. He has a big future ahead of him and it’s good he’s committed his future to the club.”

“We will see what happens next season. I never bother with thinking that far ahead, we’ll let next season take care of itself.”

“But we’re not interested in loaning him out now as he’s an important part of our squad.”

Although Hodgson was keen to keep Dawson at the club, he has sent 19-year-old George Thorne out on loan, with the midfielder returning for his second spell at Portsmouth this season.

The Baggies manager was keen for the youngster to go back out temporarily in order to improve his game by getting more regular performances at the Championship outfit.

“It’s good for him to get games in central midfield,” Hodgson said. “We have some very fierce competition there at the moment.”

“We have Graham Dorrans out of the team at the moment, we’ve got (Keith) Andrews as well as (Paul) Scharner, (James) Morrison and (Youssuf) Mulumbu, with maybe (Chris) Brunt coming back.”

“So it was a chance for us to loan him out and get a few games under his belt, and we will see how it goes from there.”