Garth Crooks waxes lyrical about West Ham defender Craig Dawson

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Garth Crooks has named West Ham United defender Craig Dawson in his BBC Sport Team of the Week after the Hammers beat Leeds 2-0 at the London Stadium.

The 30-year-old centre-back scored the second goal for David Moyes’ team after Jesse Lingard had opened the scoring.

West Ham have been one of the season’s surprise packages and currently occupy fifth place in the Premier League table.

A large part of their recent good form has been down to Dawson’s prominence at the hear of the defence.

Crooks was impressed with his showing against Marcelo Bielsa’s men last night and gave him the nod for his Team of the Week.

He told BBC Sport: “Another solid game from Craig Dawson in a West Ham shirt. The defender has slotted into the Hammers backline effortlessly.

“Dawson has always been a threat in the opposition’s penalty area especially on set plays – and so it proved against Leeds.

“It was his clearance off the line that must have sickened Leeds and put any chance of getting back into the game to bed.”

TBR View: West Ham must add Dawson on a permanent basis

The Evening Standard reports that West Ham are keen to complete a £2 million deal to sign Dawson permanently – and what a piece of business it could prove to be.

Eyes rolled when he was added; with plenty of West Ham fans feeling he was a cheap option that wouldn’t make an impact.

Now his permanent arrival looks like a must and in just 14 appearances he’s convinced the Hammers faithful of his quality.

West Ham are on the cusp of European football and there’s no reason why they can’t gatecrash the top four.

Dawson has proved himself as one of the shrewdest signings of the season and Moyes will hope his good form continues.