West Ham United goalkeeper Adrian feels that skipper Mark Noble has had a tremendous impact on the younger players at Upton Park and has hailed the Englishman’s leadership qualities.
The 28-year-old is all set to play in his testimonial match scheduled for Monday in front of a packed audience at the Boleyn Ground to celebrate his time with the Hammers.
The central midfielder made his senior team debut for the Upton Park club in 2004 and has since then made over 350 appearances appearances, winning the Hammer of the Year trophy twice.
As Slaven Bilic’s side, who are just a point away from fourth placed Manchester City in the Premier League, are in with a chance of making it to the Champions League next year, Adrian feels that Noble has played a huge role in their success.
And the goalkeeper insists that he deserves every bit of respect he gets from the younger players, who look up to him for advice.
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“It’s an amazing achievement for Mark that he has spent many, many years at this one club”, the Spanish shot-stopper told the club’s website.
“He’s a great captain for us and a great leader in the dressing room. He’s an amazing person off the pitch, too.
“Mark has a great impact on all the younger players. Of him, they see the number one West Ham player because he has done it all before”, the 29-year-old further said.
“Like a great captain, when I had a confrontation with [Mario] Balotelli, Mark came over to me saying: “You are crazy! We are winning!” but that was a great thing for a captain to do”, he added.
