West Brom and England Under-21 defender Craig Dawson admits defeat to Belgium was a 'shock' but insists the team will respond

Although the young Lions lost to their Belgian counterparts, the defender believes it came at a good time as they must concentrate again and stamp out any complacency

15 Nov 2011 23:40:00

By Ryan Benson

More On :  Belgium Under 21, England Under 21, West Bromwich, Craig Dawson
UEFA Under-21 Championship - England v Azerbaijan, Craig Dawson
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West Brom and England Under-21 defender Craig Dawson has claimed that although their 2-1 defeat to Belgium wasn’t expected, he believes it will help the team regain their focus.

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The Young Lions would have been well on their way to securing a play-off place had they not conceded late on in Mons, but will now have to wait to progress to the next round of European Under-21 Championships qualification.

England took the lead through Liverpool full-back Martin Kelly, but substitutes Jens Naessens and Omar El-Kaddouri tipped the balance, giving the hosts the win with the winner coming in the dying seconds.

Speaking to FATV, Dawson said: “It's a bit of a shock to us, but maybe it came at the right time and maybe it will knuckle us down a bit.

“We'll get back together, regroup and get back on track."

"We were always positive of getting a second goal but we didn't want to concede another goal.

"We'd have taken a point, really, at that stage.

“You've got to take the positives out the game and learn from the game and I'm sure we'll do that."

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