Mads Hermansen made his return to the West Ham United team in a Premier League game for the first time in five months on Saturday.
The goalkeeper hasn’t convinced since joining West Ham United from Leicester last summer and was duly attracting interest from the Championship over the course of the January transfer window.
Still, Nuno Espirito Santo saw fit to start Hermansen in a huge game for the club on Saturday away at Burnley.
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West Ham beat Burnley 2-0 in rather routine fashion but, prior to kick-off, it was a game laced with risk.
Anything other than three points would have been a major blow after Nottingham Forest’s defeat at Leeds on Friday night.
It was a big call, then, to bring him back into the fold.
Luckily, Nuno’s gamble on Hermansen paid off, and the player himself was delighted to get back to playing.
Mads Hermansen says he’s happy to play for West Ham again
At one point, Hermansen looked set to leave West Ham in January.
Now, however, the picture is looking very different.
The Dane did little to warrant being dropped at Turf Moor and it would be foolish to bet against the chances of him starting against Manchester United on Tuesday.
Taking to Instagram after the game, the goalkeeper wrote: “Happy to play again. Important points for the team! Thanks for the support.”
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Mads Hermansen’s clean sheet record this season
Hermansen boasts a clean sheet record of 40% in the Premier League this season and is the only West Ham goalkeeper to have kept at least one thus far.
Granted, the fact that the 25-year-old has played only five games does skew the percentages somewhat, but it is worth considering.
Of the goalkeepers who have played five games or more this season, only Robert Sanchez, Gianluigi Donnarumma and David Raya boast a better clean sheet percentage.
Hermansen clearly isn’t on their level, but this was a reminder of his quality, even if things did look a little shaky in the opening exchanges.
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