Craig Dawson has lauded Issa Diop while speaking with West Ham TV for the progress the rarely-seen defender has made at Rush Green and his performance against Leicester City.
David Moyes hurried Diop into his starting line-up at the King Power Stadium last Sunday after Kurt Zouma felt unwell. The Hammers boss has seldom trusted Diop to feature in the Premier League so far this season, with the Foxes clash only his ninth start from 25 games.
Diop has featured in each of the Irons’ top-flight squads this term, but has been an unused substitute 16 times. His maiden appearance this season also only came in December before earning regular minutes following Angelo Ogbonna and Kurt Zouma sustaining injuries.
Zouma’s return against Manchester United last month meant Diop again fell to the bench. Moyes also hauled the 25-year-old off at half-time during West Ham’s FA Cup win at non-league Kidderminster Harriers, having fallen a goal down to the National League North side.
Diop impressing Dawson on and off the pitch for West Ham
Diop will have regained a lot of confidence from his performance as West Ham drew 2-2 at Leicester, however. Alongside Dawson, the Frenchman coped well with the Foxes’ attack thanks to his robust defending and superbly assisted Jarrod Bowen to break the deadlock.
Diop’s displays – both on the pitch and at West Ham’s Rush Green training ground – have impressed Dawson. The former Watford enforcer notes how Diop stood up when needed at the King Power and is also coming out of his shell to help lead from the defence.
“He was excellent,” Dawson said. “Fair play to him, because he’s been working hard on the training pitch and he’s been excellent in training.
“So, he’s got an opportunity and he did very well. Issa is very quiet but we’ve started to hear him on the pitch, which is good. He was excellent, so well done to him.”
Diop will hope his performance against Leicester also impressed Moyes like Dawson ahead of West Ham hosting Newcastle on Saturday. The Irons have now dropped back out of the top-four after Manchester United beat Brighton & Hove Albion on Tuesday.
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