Crooks lauds Dawson’s display in West Brom win; criticises Slimani

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West Bromwich Albion kept their very slim Premier League survival hopes alive with a win over Newcastle United at St James’ Park.

Garth Crooks has told BBC Sport that he thought that Ahmed Hegazi and Craig Dawson were immense during West Brom’s narrow win over Newcastle on Saturday, and labelled the latter’s display flawless as he included him in his Team of the Week. He also hit out at Islam Slimani for kicking out at his opponent during the defeat.

It has surprised so many that the Baggies go into the final two games of the season still with a chance of securing Premier League survival. Darren Moore’s men have won two and drawn two of their last four games, beating Manchester United at Old Trafford and bagging another three points when they travelled to St James’ Park at the weekend.

West Brom are still the overwhelming favourites to be relegated, with two wins required to give them the slightest chance, but there is undoubtedly some fresh optimism at The Hawthorns. And following the win over the Magpies, Crooks was in awe of the Baggies’ centre-back pairing, with Dawson receiving particular praise from the club’s former striker, who also admitted to being baffled by Newcastle loanee Slimani’s actions.

“I saw it, but I couldn’t believe it. What another outstanding performance by the Baggies,” he told BBC Sport.

“I thought Dawson and Ahmed Hegazi were immense at Newcastle. Quite apart from not responding when he was kicked by Islam Slimani, Dawson’s performance was flawless. When are players going to realise that there is nothing they can do on a football pitch that we cannot see?”

Of course, the frustrating aspect of West Brom’s current form is that it did not come sooner when they had a much better chance of avoiding going into their games with Tottenham and Crystal Palace knowing that two wins may still not be enough to stay up.

Moore has done a superb job and the recent results highlight that West Brom have a significantly better squad than the one that looked set to go down with a points tally that would have placed them alongside the worst teams of the Premier League era.

Their situation may still be bleak, but there is no question that their current run has restored some pride and may provide the team with a boost heading into next season.