Hayden Mullins has again demonstrated why he is such an invaluable part of the West Ham United starting eleven.
The energetic midfielder turned in another dynamic display in the 1-0 win against Liverpool, helping to nullify the threat of Steven Gerrard and setting the tone for the forward players to attack the visitors. Yet, as illustrated by a ProZone statistic in the matchday programme, he is much more than just a destroyer - having completed 107 of his 115 passes in the previous three games for a completion rate of just over 93 per cent.
Nevertheless, Mullins, who has not missed a league game since 10 November, clearly relishes midfield battles against top-quality opposition. "That is why we set up with the three in there because we know how dangerous Stevie is and it was a good game," he told WHUTV. "You love playing against players like that who are so big in the game and it is a good test for yourself," he said.
"Having kept them out and made it nil-nil at half-time, it was a good incentive for the boys to go on and do what we did. We are very delighted," he added, as he turned his attention to the counterattack move by Freddie Ljungberg and Matthew Etherington that led to the penalty winner for Mark Noble. "It was a great way to win a game, scoring in the 93rd minute. They kicked off and the game was finished."
Despite the noise that filled the Boleyn Ground at the end, the 28-year-old admitted the match was perhaps not as exciting as the 2-1 home win against the champions a month ago but still felt the team thoroughly deserved the victory. He said: "We didn't really do as well as we did against Man United and take the game to them from the word go but we were solid enough.
"We had a couple of chances here and there, restricted them and thankfully we got the penalty at the end. We deserved the three points. We were seeing the game out, being professional and just keeping it tight at the back. We was lucky to get a breakaway with Matty and Freddie, they exchanged a few good passes and we nicked the penalty. Everyone is absolutely delighted."