West Ham United boss Gianfranco Zola has again talked up the contribution of Davide di Michele this season.

The Italian has divided the Hammers support, but Zola told whufc.com: "Di Michele remains a key player. Maybe he doesn't score many goals but he makes the team play very well … when we lost Scott Parker he was the one who was really helping the manoeuvre of the team.

"He is an important player for us and I am 100 per cent sure about that."