Martinez wary of Diame threat

26 October 2012 19:45

Wigan manager Roberto Martinez believes midfielder Mohammed Diame will be a threat to his team when West Ham visit the DW Stadium.

But Martinez has backed his players to concentrate on their own performance when the clubs meet in the Premier League on Saturday.

Diame left Wigan in the summer to join newly promoted West Ham, with Sam Allardyce overseeing a major revamp of the east London side's squad.

The 25-year-old has impressed since joining the Hammers, a factor that hasn't gone unnoticed by Martinez who plucked him from Spanish Second Division obscurity in 2009.

"You look at West Ham, and you have to say that their recruitment over the summer was really powerful and of the highest quality," he said.

"You're talking about players like Andy Carroll, Matt Jarvis, Yossi Benayoun as well as Momo (Diame), who we all know really well.

"And when you're facing a team with so much quality you know you're in for a really tough game.

"West Ham have started very well, and they're a side who - as well as having quality players throughout the team - are always strong and competitive.

"They're always very well-drilled at dead-ball situations and we'll have to be well aware of that aspect of the game."

But despite the concessions, Martinez insisted his Wigan side would only be interested in concentrating on their own game, underlining the squad's performance against Everton as the blueprint for them to follow.

"If I'm honest with you, I don't think we can afford to be looking too much at the opposition," Martinez said.

"We're in a position where we need to be looking at ourselves to find a way to perform at our best for 90 minutes.

"We need to match the performance against Everton in the last home game if we possibly can, and that is the key to getting that positive result or not."