West Ham defender Aaron Cresswell praised Vladimir Coufal and Tomas Soucek's humility and work ethic and described the pair as the 'most humble guys I have met'; watch Brighton vs West Ham live on Sky Sports Main Event and Premier League from 7.30pm on Saturday; kick-off 8pm
Friday 14 May 2021 13:40, UK
Aaron Cresswell has hailed the humility of West Ham team-mates Vladimir Coufal and Tomas Soucek and praised the impact they have made since arriving at the club.
Coufal followed Soucek in swapping Slavia Prague for the London Stadium last October and both players have been crucial to West Ham's push for European qualification this season.
Pictures also emerged on social media in March that appeared to show Coufal waiting at a London bus stop, typifying for Cresswell the down-to-earth nature that has endeared him to his team-mates and the fans.
"They are two fantastic honest pros and the most humble guys I have met in football," Cresswell said ahead of Saturday's match with Brighton, live on Sky Sports.
"Their work ethic, we'll play a game on a Saturday, we recover on a Sunday and the lads will be getting massages and you look out the window and the two Czech boys are running around the pitch.
"They are brilliant, they will sit there and play head tennis for an hour on recovery day. They are fantastic guys and two fantastic signings."
Soucek also enjoyed an immediate impact having originally arrived at West Ham on loan in January 2020, helping the club to avoid relegation at the end of last season, before signing permanently.
This time around, West Ham have been earning plaudits in the top half of the table, becoming one of the season's surprise packages in the process.
Three defeats in their last four Premier League matches have put a dent in their Champions League dreams and West Ham now face a difficult task if they are to fend off the competition for the top four.
However, Cresswell was adamant the team would do everything to reverse their recent dip in form and, at the very least, secure a Europa League place.
"It's obviously disappointing the results didn't go our way," Cresswell added. "We know it is going to be difficult to get that top-four spot.
"We are going to give everything we have and let's see where we finish come the end of the season.
"Of course, we know how tough this league is and it can change game by game.
"We have held our spot there for a long time and we don't want a disappointing end to the season and [to] slip out of the top Europa League spot."
