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Alan Irvine happy to accept Saido Berahino's England exile
WEST BROM chief Alan Irvine insists Saido Berahino's failure to win a place in the full England squad was no surprise to him.
But the Scot reckons there is still plenty of time for West Brom's 21-year-old to force his way into Roy Hodgson's squad in the future.
Berahino is the top English scorer in the Premier League after netting twice against Burnley last Sunday.
However he could only make the Under-21 squad for matches against Croatia.
Irvine said: “I wasn’t surprised he wasn’t named in the full squad - I’d have been more surprised if he had been.
“He’s a young player who’s doing really well at the moment and has great potential.
“I’d expect one day he’ll become a full international.
“But I didn’t really expect Roy to to select him this time.
“He knows him well, he’ll pick him when he’s ready. He’ll know when the time is right.”
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And Irvine feels playing for the full side could harm Berahino's development.
He added: “It can only have a detrimental effect if they can’t handle it mentally.
“But Saido’s a very good professional so I can’t see him getting carried away if he does get selected at full international level.
“Saido’s time will come.
“He may will be disappointed but I don’t know.
“He might have been hoping after a bot of speculation this week.
“But he’ll handle all of that mentally - he’s in a really good place.”
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