West Ham United have been struggling with having a consistent backline this campaign, but perhaps the answer to their defensive prayers has been staring them in the face for the whole time. Daniel Potts joined the Academy in 2010 and has been at the club ever since. He was given his first-team debut in 2011 by Sam Allardyce at left-back and managed to keep a clean sheet, with the manager Sam Allardyce describing his performance as ‘a great debut in both defence and attack’.
Potts featured the following year in the first-team frame and won Young Hammer of the Year, and enjoyed a couple of loan spells elsewhere in the months that followed. In the 2013/14 campaign, Steve Potts’ son played in seven games under Big Sam so he has the necessary experience already under his belt to be a regular in the senior squad.
A fractured ankle and knee problems however has meant that Danny Potts has been limited to just one appearance this season for the Hammers, but he has fully recovered and is enjoying his football in the Development Squad. U21 boss Nick Haycock has started to play the 21-year-old in a more central position in a defence, and Potts is shining in his new centre-back role.
In his eighth reserves appearance of the season, the young Englishman showed maturity and leadership against Patrick Vieira’s Manchester City side. He is highly vocal in organising the backline, and shows great physicality predominantly in the air. The aerial threat that Potts possess was shown in the 2-1 win over the Citizens, with his headed goal opening the scoring as well as hitting the crossbar from another set piece.
Furthermore to his heading ability, Potts has a sensational left foot which looked promising when making long range passes, quickly switching the run of play from defence to attack. He is highly alert and took a blow to the head when blocking shots from his opponents, which included the likes of Jose Pozo who has featured for the City senior side. He has a lot of stamina and was able to close people down, tracking back from one end of the field to the other.
West Ham through and through, Danny Potts is certainly a prospect that should be considered for the new season as a back-up centre-half that has the potential to become a regular such as Mark Noble one day. With the Capital One Cup tie against Sheffield United being his previous first-team performance way back in August, now that he is fully fit he more than deserves an opportunity to play regularly at the Boleyn Ground.
