West Ham keeper Lukasz Fabianski praises surgeon after returning from cheekbone surgery
Lukasz Fabianski Goalkeeper of West Ham United
West Ham keeper Lukasz Fabianski has hailed his surgeon after returning to the first team and keeping an important clean sheet against Southampton.
Fabianski was back in the West Ham goal after surgery on a fractured cheekbone, and he kept Southampton at bay with saves from Romain Perraud and Romeo Lavia as they held on to the lead given to them by Nayef Aguerd's first-half header.
"It is never nice to be out of the team, especially through injury," said the former Poland international.
"Luckily enough there was not that much damage to my cheekbone. It was pretty straightforward surgery.
"I have to praise the surgeon as I think he did an amazing job and at the same time the recovery was very small. The international break helped as well and I'm very happy to be back."
Fabianski also believes West Ham's home form will be crucial if they are to steer clear of relegation this season.
The Hammers lifted themselves out of the bottom three and up to 14th after winning the basement battle with Southampton 1-0.
They are unbeaten in their last five matches at the London Stadium, with three wins and two draws, and host Newcastle on Wednesday looking to put more daylight between themselves and the drop zone.
"If you look at the table, one win doesn't really do too much for you," said goalkeeper Fabianski.
"It's nice to be out of the relegation zone but each week is so different, you see teams in the bottom three and then suddenly jumping up to 13th or 14th.
"I don't remember any other season like that, so that's very interesting for the supporters. We just have to focus on every single game.
"The next one is very important as well, it's a big one again at home and we have to use our home form to our advantage.
"We have to make sure we keep getting points at home and hopefully we'll be out of this situation sooner rather than later."
