Stoke City: Faye's success no shock for Diao

ABDOULAYE Faye's hero status with Stoke fans is no surprise to his City and Senegal team-mate Salif Diao.

Diao became the first of Stoke's Senegal stars when he joined the club from Liverpool two years ago.

He has since been joined by Ibrahima Sonko, Amdy Faye and Abdoulaye Faye, but it is the latter who has achieved cult status with Stoke fans since his £2.25m switch from Newcastle in August.

The 30-year-old Faye's displays in the heart of the defence have made him an early favourite to be City's player of the year and justified Diao's faith in his international team mate.

Now Diao, the Stoke management, and fans are keeping their fingers crossed Faye recovers from a minor knock to line up against Tottenham on Sunday.

Diao said: "I'm not surprised at all by how well he has done.

"People saw what he could do when he played for Bolton and Newcastle, and everyone knows he is a very strong lad.

"When the manager here asked me about him, I said he will do very well for us. Now he is proving that on he pitch.

"The fact that he is one of four Senegalese here is helping him settle in very quickly.

"Also, his family are still living near Bolton, so all that counts in making it easy for him."

City were relieved to see Faye, Diao and Sonko back in one piece after they were caught up in a riot following Senegal's 1-1 draw with Gambia in Dakar on Saturday.

The result knocked Senegal out of the next World Cup and Africa Cup of Nations, and was met with fury by the home fans.

The Stoke players were trapped in their changing room for four hours while rioters clashed with police. They then had to be smuggled back to their hotel to complete a miserable day.

Despite the violence, Diao remains proud to represent the country where he was born and lived until he was 16.

He says Senegal fans use football as an escape from the country's political and social problems. The West African country is considered to be one of the continent's model democracies. But there are high levels of unemployment and poverty, which puts more pressure on the players every time they represent their country.

However, Diao believes Stoke benefit from having four players from the same international side.

He said: "It helps us a lot that we all play in the national team and are all here at Stoke City.

"Also, it is very important for us to go back every international game.

"Sometimes, when you stay here, you forget the realities.

"When you go back to the national team and see how people live, that gives you more energy.

"You come back full of energy thinking 'I need to work more'."