WEST Ham legend Julian Dicks says James Tomkins fully merited his place in Great Britain’s Olympic football team.

The former Chalvedon School boy became south Essex’s latest Olympian when he was named in Stuart Pearce’s starting XI for their 3-1 win over the United Arab Emirates at Wembley on Sunday evening.

And Dicks, who like Tomkins has also played a key role in the West Ham defence, says the 23-year-old was well worth his place.

“I watched a lot of James Tomkins last season and he did very well so he deserved his place,” said Dicks, who works with the media on match days at Upton Park.

“He does everything you expect of a centre-half – he wins his headers, times his tackles well, and distributes the ball well.

“And some people might say it is not as good because he did it in the Championship.

“But I also watched West Ham a lot in the Premier League the season before, and even though they went down, Tomkins was one of their best players.”

Great Britain’s win over the UAE means a draw against Uruguay in their final group game will take them through to the quarter-finals. Skipper Ryan Giggs headed the opener and Rashed Eisa equalised with a composed finish, before substitutes Scott Sinclair and Daniel Sturridge sealed the win with late goals. Tomkins came in for some criticism for the UAE’s goal, which saw the visitors cut through the heart of the GB defence, but Dicks says that is unfair. He said: “Often defenders get blamed for conceding goals whether it’s their fault or not.

“But you can always go further back in the passage of play and look at who gave the ball away in the first place.

“Sometimes it’s the full-backs who get criticised if they are beaten too easily.

“But it’s a team game at the end of the day so I don’t think it’s always fair to just single out one player.”

Dicks says he’s not completely sold on the idea of having football at the Olympics, and has reservations about how it might affect some of the players.

He said: “I might be a bit old-fashioned but I think of the Olympics as being about track and field.

“Nowadays you have golf, tennis and football there, and I’m not sure that’s what it should be about.

“And in terms of football players, I think it’s something which may affect their performances in the following season.

“James Tomkins should be having a rest now, but instead he’s playing at the Olympics. I just hope he isn’t shattered halfway through next season.”

Tomkins came into the Great Britain side for their second game in place of Chelsea’s Ryan Bertrand.

He played in central defence alongside Swansea's Steven Caulker, with Manchester City’s Micah Richards being switched the right-back slot vacated by Bertrand.

And the West Ham centre back will be hoping to keep his place in the side when Pearce’s men play Uruguay in their final group game at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium tomorrow (Wednesday). Uruguay, one of the pre-tournament favourites, were stunned 2-0 by 10-man Senegal at Wembley before the Great Britain versus Senegal game on Sunday.