West Ham centre-back Craig Dawson has been playing despite sustaining an injury in recent weeks.
The Hammers have a lack of options in central defence at the moment with first choice duo Kurt Zouma and Angelo Ogbonna both out.
Therefore, Dawson has put West Ham before himself and is playing on while dealing with an injury issue.
West Ham hero Craig Dawson has put the team first and has been playing on through injury in the last few matches.
The 31-year-old has been a solid performer when called upon for most of his time at the club and was exceptional in the second half of last season guiding West Ham to a 6th place finish in the Premier League.
West Ham signed Dawson permanently prior to the start of this season for a bargain price of £2.5 million from Watford after triggering an appearance clause in the loan deal that brought him to the London Stadium.
Fans were happy to keep him at the club as he also chips in with vital goals, he has scored one in this season’s Europa League campaign.
However, lately he has received some criticism from West Ham supporters. The defence has not performed well in losses to Spurs and Southampton and although playing well in attack with Manuel Lanzini scoring a wonderful goal, the Irons were perhaps a little lucky to beat Crystal Palace, who squandered a number of their chances.
It has now been brought to attention via reliable source ExWHUemployee via The West Ham Way patreon site that Dawson has been battling through injury to partner Issa Diop at the back.
This kind of commitment and resilience shouldn’t come as a surprise as Dawson is a tough and selfless defender but he must be praised or West Ham would be down to the bare bones at centre-back.
The former West Brom man must be putting a lot of effort in to be fit for every game especially given the congested fixture list of late.
Without him a youngster like Ajibola Alese or Jamal Baptiste might have to step in, it would come as a big step up to them and David Moyes likes to slowly integrate players into the starting XI.