‘He’s a monster!’: Fans hail heroics of West Ham’s Soucek as he suffers GRUESOME gash – but plays on anyway (GRAPHIC PHOTOS)

West Ham fans are hailing Tomas Soucek's heroics after he suffered a grisly head wound while defending his goal in Sunday's fixture with Tottenham – only to spring to his feet to defend a shot from Harry Kane just seconds later.

The Hammers are well-known for their claret and blue kits, but this time the claret was displayed across the forehead of Czech international Soucek after a nasty clash of heads with Spurs' Colombian defender Davinson Sanchez opened a sizeable wound which left blood streaming down the 25-year-old defensive midfielder's face.

Many – or even most – Premier League players might take this opportunity to hit the deck and perform a few barrel rolls across the turf for good measure.

But Soucek appears to be bred from different stock, immediately getting back into position to attempt to block a Harry Kane shot as the England captain threatened to pop up amid uncertainty in the West Ham penalty area.

Warning: images and videos contain blood

So soucek does this but when salah get a flick on his arm he goes down like he’s just been sniped ????????‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/WdFEnKDF3h

— ~ (@tellessenior) February 21, 2021

Still got up to defend the chance, every team needs a soucek pic.twitter.com/YnWE3lxUAe

— Marshall89HD (@Marshall89HD) February 21, 2021

#soucek Still got back up and blocked the shot, now off getting stitches and coming back on proper old school defender this lad pic.twitter.com/9MwVtncPm5

— Cllr Sean Macleod ????️‍???? ????⚒ (@CllrSeanMacleod) February 21, 2021

Only when the danger was cleared did Soucek take a knee and await treatment on the pitch. 

Once medics arrived, they struggled to stem the flow of blood from Soucek's head and were forced to rush him to the dressing room to hastily apply stitches.

In all, the horrendous gash resulted in him being off the pitch for just seven minutes before he returned to bolster West Ham's rearguard. 

Thomas Souček highlights VS Sp*rs pic.twitter.com/TdbtgUg2Qn

— Ryan (@CFC_Ryxn) February 21, 2021

Thomas Soucek is a MONSTER, That’s what you a proper player.

— Daniel Iqbal (@Daniel_Iqbal) February 21, 2021

"Soucek getting up to block the shot after his head has just been opened up is everything I want to see in a footballer," said former pro Jamie O'Hara to talkSPORT of Soucek's on-field heroics, while former Hammer Trevor Sinclair agreed, writing on Twitter: "Soucek’s reaction to block the shot after he won the header and got butted in the head is magnificent."

In the end, Soucek's never-say-die attitude on the field paid off, with West Ham claiming a famous 2-1 win against Jose Mourinho's Tottenham as pressure amps up on the Portuguese boss.

Mourinho has now lost four of his last five Premier League fixtures and overseen Tottenham's recent elimination from the FA Cup at the hands of Everton.

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