West Ham boss Zola: Diamanti reminds me of ... me!

West Ham United boss Gianfranco Zola says Alessandro Diamanti deserved his man-of-the-match award after victory over Hull City.

Diamanti enjoyed an outstanding game in the 3-0 win.

"Alessandro excites me," Zola told whufc.com.

"That is the reason why I keep playing him, although I have very good players. I keep playing him all the time because I know he can do something special for us at any moment.

"It is important to have players like that because they keep the other team on their toes. That is a big thing confidence-wise for the whole team. He also keeps the crowd involved. It is a big thing for me, knowing that on the pitch I have a player that can score at any time.

"He does remind me of me - sometimes he does the unpredictable things. He also does some unpredictable mistakes as I used to. That is the kind of player he is, you have to take him for that. What is surprising me is that his work-rate has been fantastic. He is helping the team.

"He is also playing in a position he has never played in. In Italy, he was always second striker or just behind the two strikers in the hole. He didn't work very hard defensively. If you see how he is playing now and his work-rate, it is massive for the team."