MAN OF THE MOMENT COMEBACK KING

Lanzini was suddenly the Hammers hero after previously falling out of favour.. but Cresswell says it shows the fighting spirit at the club

Lanzini has struggled since a bad injury in 2018 (left) but was a hero on Sunday (right)

AARON CRESSWELL claims forgotten man Manuel Lanzini is the perfect example of the fighting spirit that will keep West Ham up this season.

The Hammers flirted with the drop last t e r m, b u t a re climbing the table after coming back from 3-0 down to draw at To tt e n h a m o n Sunday thanks to a last-gasp Lanzini screamer.

Th e 27-yearold came off the bench for his first league outing of the season and got mobbed by his team-mates as West Ham’s new mentality shone through.

O n c e a mai n st ay, L a n z i n i suffered a cruciate ligament injury in 2018 and has more recently fallen out of favour with manager David Moyes.

But full-back Cresswell said: “Manu has got that quality. This season probably hasn’t gone the way he wanted so far.

“I’m delighted for him. He’s stuck at it and I couldn’t be more proud of him. It’s easy to sulk when you’re not getting your own way, but he’s come on and done that.

“To come back from 3-0 down and get the draw in the manner we did was fantastic.

“The game was all theirs for the first 15 minutes, but you hang in with it and I thought we did very well. We never gave up and got our rewards at the end.

“I ’ve been here a l ong time. Before, there would have been times when we would have – I don’t know if given up are the right words – but it’s always tough to chase a game like that.

“You’re looking at it at 3-0, thinking it’s tough. But we’ve got that fighting spirit and we’ve come back.

“We’re all together and really tight-knit and that’s what you need as a team if you want to progress.

“It’s still early doors only five games in, but that’s what we’ve got to do throughout the season.

“It was just a shame there were no fans in on Sunday night because what a way it was to end the game.”

West Ham are ninth in the table, with their draw at Spurs coming after big back-to-back wins over Wolves and Leicester, and host Manchester City this Saturday.

Cresswell said: “We know we can hurt teams. The lads can certainly produce magic moments and, if we keep that fighting spirit, there’s no reason why we can’t do well.”

Lanzini and West Ham celebrate a dramatic last-gasp equaliser at Tottenham