West Ham attacker Marko Arnautovic has expressed confusion regarding his status with the club's fans.
The 28-year-old Austrian has divided the opinion ever since he joined the side from Stoke City last summer, but he has been quite productive as a Hammer.
Arnautovic was on target for the Irons against Watford on Saturday, combining with Mexican star forward Chicharito Hernandez to help his side to a 2-0 win. And speaking after the match, he spoke on his quick return from injury, as well as his surprise over not being liked by everyone.
"I was hungry before I got the injury. My people helped me a lot to come back quickly," Arnautovic said to BBC's Match of the Day.
"Nobody expected me to return that quickly. I try to give everything for the team.
Marko Arnautović's game by numbers vs. Watford:
47 touches
88% take-ons completed
7 take-ons completed
2 shots
2 chances created
1 goal
1 tackle wonDream return. pic.twitter.com/FxkOOBd7tW
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) February 10, 2018
"Watford kept the ball a lot because they needed to score but they didn’t have a great chance you felt they had to score. Our counter-attacks and chances, we should have taken the game far away.
"I keep working hard on myself. It was a tough beginning to my time at West Ham.
"I wanted to prove the critical people wrong. I’m surprised some people don’t like me as I have a good heart."
Hammers boss David Moyes has also revealed that he plans to handle the attacker with tough love.
"He's getting no praise," Moyes said after the win. He'll be told to keep at it, he'll keep getting pushed all the way. We are not letting him off the hook, he's got a bit to go.
"He only trained for three days but you can see the impact he's had, and playing as a centre-forward has freed him up a bit. "He has power, pace, he's good on the ball. Hes doing a really good job for us."
- 90Min