‘I was slightly worried’: 31-year-old West Ham player admits fear during Leicester match

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Craig Dawson has admitted he thought his injury-time equaliser against Leicester would be chalked off by VAR.

West Ham were trailing 2-1 at the King Power as the game went into added time. However, David Moyes’ side carried on their success with set-pieces after Jarrod Bowen’s corner was met by Dawson to snatch a point.

The ball seemed to come off the top of the centre-back’s arm as it flew past Kasper Schmeichel and above a helpless Harvey Barnes on the line. Celebrations were fairly tame for a last-minute equaliser, but after a VAR check, the goal was given.

Speaking to the official West Ham website after the game Dawson said: “I was slightly worried [about the VAR check], but it counted, so that’s all that matters.’

‘We were working hard to get the goal, and luckily enough it went in.

‘It’s obviously disappointing [not to win], but let’s focus on ourselves. I think a point was a fair result in the end.”

The 31-year-old wasn’t the only person who suspected the goal may not stand. Match of the Day host and Leicester fan Gary Lineker was convinced it was handball.

The goal was Dawson’s first in the Premier League this season. He has also netted once in the Europa League, with both coming from set-pieces.

West Ham are one of the leagues most successful sides from set pieces. Conversely, the Hammers late equaliser was the 14th set-piece goal conceded by Leicester this season, with Brendan Rodgers recently describing them as an ‘ongoing issue‘.

Dawson added: “Set-pieces are something we work hard on. It was a great ball into the box and luckily it went in.’

‘We’ve got another tough game next week [at home to Newcastle United], so we’ll prepare well this week.”