Hayden Mullins kept Javier Mascherano on the West Ham United bench

Part of the reason why he found opportunities so hard to come by was because Alan Pardew was reluctant to break up the Hayden Mullins/Nigel Reo-Coker partnership in the centre of the park.

Speaking on Gerryn Hussain’s The Players Lounge podcast, Mullins admits that he had a physical edge over Mascerhano, too.

“We’d signed Mascherano and Tevez in that season, and they’d come and arrived, but they weren’t quite fit,” Mullins recalls. “So they found it tough. The Premier League is really quick, you know, it’s a quick, quick league. And they actually found it pretty tough. [In January], we sold Mascherano to Liverpool.”

Mullins remembers the Argentine being a ‘warrior’ on the training pitch. But it was only after his move to Anfield – and once he had settled into the rhythm of the English game – that we started to see the potential that would see Mascerhano accumulate five La Liga titles and two Champions Leagues for Barcelona.

Mascherano labels that West Ham spell ‘the first major setback’ of his career, albeit a necessary one he would bounce back from.

Tevez, in contrast, found his feet at Upton Park even if his spell in claret and blue would prove similarly short-lived. Tevez famously saved West Ham and relegated Sheffield United on a dramatic final day, a seventh goal in his final ten league appearances deciding a 1-0 victory at Old Trafford.

“Carlos was a massive part of us at that time. He grew into a really important player for us,” says Mullins, who actually came on for Tevez in the dying embers that day away to Manchester United.

“And the best thing about Carlos Tevez was his work ethic. It’s like through the roof, honestly. He’s not the best trainer! Javier was a proper trainer, a warrior. Carlos knew how to look after himself, but in games, honestly, he would put a real shift in. Like a proper shift!

“[In contrast to Mascherano], Carlos got his fitness and he was up and running at that time. That’s when he was popping up with goals and doing really well for us.”