Josh Cullen is as tough as old boots anyway.
In fairness, when Stuart Pearce is one of your coaches, a lost tooth is not going to get you much sympathy but the Ireland under-21 international probably went up in the rankings of ‘Psycho’ on Sunday afternoon when he had a tough kicked horrifically out of his mouth and took it like a champ.
West Ham were held to a 0-0 draw at League One side Shrewsbury Town and the FA Cup third round clash will go to a replay, something which manager David Moyes could definitely have done without as he aims to concentrate on keeping the Hammers afloat in the Premier League.
Moyes fielded a relatively strong side, with Cullen one of the less experienced starters, but the top-flight outfit simply couldn’t break the deadlock at New Meadow.
But, at the very least, Cullen proved his dedication to the cause as he played through a mouth injury sustained when he received a kick in the jaw from Shrewsbury midfielder Abu Ogogo.
Slow-motion replays of the high boot showed that the 21-year-old’s tooth went flying out on impact but, credit to him, he continued playing after undergoing treatment on the touchline.
His tooth comes flying out there! 😷😬 #Cullen #SHRWHU pic.twitter.com/pNDXKaButr
— Oninja (@OrigamiNinja79) January 7, 2018
The 21-year-old is a former England under-16 but switched allegiance to declare for Ireland as an under-19 and has been with the Republic ever since.
Cullen has captained the country for a number of crucial qualifier clashes in the most recent campaign and now he is starting to make the breakthrough at club level.
As the player changed out of his blood-soaked kit, the West Ham physio could be seen looking for his tooth in the grass and managed to find it.
He’s the real hero of this story.
