Unsung hero for West Brom: Craig Dawson

The likes of Matt Phillips and Jake Livermore may have grabbed most of the Baggies headlines last season, but West Bromwich Albion would’ve been a lot worse off without their feisty full-back Craig Dawson.

Jonny Evans and Gareth McAuley have been strong in the Albion backline but nobody epitomises the trademark Pulis steel like Dawson.

The 27-year-old former Rochdale man didn’t miss a single league game in 2015/16 and only sat out two in 2016/17, both through suspension.

The combative defender has come a long way since taking a job as a glass collector after being rejected by Bolton Wanderers at the age of 16.

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Whilst turning out for his local side he was spotted by Bernard Manning Jnr, the then chairman of non-league side Radcliffe Borough, and hasn’t looked back since.

A typical Pulis defender, Dawson is from the old school of stop attacks first, play out later – and that philosophy helped him to excel centrally while filling in for Jonny Evans.

Dawson’s aerial presence is also useful in attack, his two headed goals against Arsenal in March gave Albion one of the highlights of their season, a 3-1 victory at The Hawthorns.

He may have gone under the radar for praise by many but his manager always had faith and clearly values Dawson’s contribution.

“Dawson has impressed me all season, I pick him every week,” said Albion’s head coach.

“When he plays right-back as well he does fantastically well for the team, he also gives us that extra height that we need at times.

“Obviously we are good at set-plays because we spend a lot of time working on them but we have to defend those situations and Craig helps us in that respect.

“He gives us another very good player attacking-wise and defensively alongside the two centre-halves.”