As debuts for defenders go, you can't really beat a clean sheet away from home.
So Craig Dawson was delighted to end his long wait for his West Ham United bow by helping his side earn a 0-0 draw at Southampton on Tuesday evening.
The Hammers were called into action again just a shade over 48 hours after battling back to draw 2-2 with Brighton on Sunday, and manager David Moyes freshened his side up by making five changes.
One of those was Dawson, as the man who arrived on loan from Watford in October lined up at centre-back alongside Angelo Ogbonna, and the pair gave a committed display to limit Southampton's chances.
A scoreless draw was the fairest outcome of a tight contest in which opportunities for both teams were hard to come by, and Dawson was happy to take the point home.
"It's a great point," he said. :It was a tough game, especially with the short turnaround [from Sunday]. All the lads put in an excellent shift.
"We had that chance [for Said Benrahma] at the end, but it's a great save and a good point at the end of the day because this is a tough place to come.
"It's great to get my first appearance for the club, so I"m delighted with that and with the clean sheet too.
"It's been a long wait, but obviously the lads have done so well during that time. Hopefully I can keep my place in the side and keep gaining points.
"We'll recover now and move onto the next one. We've got a great squad, hopefully we can keep working together and keep pushing up the table."
