Bilic - We created enough to win

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  • Slaven Bilic said his team created enough chances to beat Stoke City on Saturday
  • West Ham United were held to a second consecutive goalless draw after last weekend’s stalemate with Everton
  • The Hammers are now, though, four games unbeaten in the Premier League

West Ham United created enough chances during their goalless draw with Stoke City to win the game on Saturday, according to manager Slaven Bilic.

The hosts had goalkeeper Jack Butland to thank on a number of occasions at the bet365 Stadium, with the stopper denying the likes of Andre Ayew and Manuel Lanzini spectacularly to keep his clean sheet.

The draw meant the Hammers – who have kept three clean sheets in their last four matches – are now unbeaten in as many Premier League games and though they moved onto 39 points in the table, Bilic thought Saturday’s reward could have been far greater.

He said: “It was again a good defensive performance, and we were good on the ball, but we just couldn’t convert the chances we created. We created enough chances to score a couple of goals.

“Our chances came to our strikers but they didn’t score. We created more than enough, I think more than them. I think we had four good chances and basically you have to score.

Slaven
“But it’s a good point for us. We wanted to beat them, but we knew it would be a hard game before. It was a good team effort and we looked dangerous on the ball, but like against Everton, we couldn’t score a goal.

“It’s our third clean sheet in the last four games, which is a good basis to start with.

“We want to be safe, but still not club that is around us in the Premier League is safe. There are still nine points to play for and we want to do everything to collect as many as possible.”

Butland sprung to his right to deny Andre Ayew superbly in the first half after the Ghanaian tried his luck with a scissor-kick, and the Englishmen made two impressive stops in the second half in quick succession from Ayew again and Argentine Lanzini’s header.

“Jack Butland’s save from Ayew in the first half was unbelievable,” Bilic reflected. “It was brilliant reflexes from such close range.

“Then he made three saves in one action, so big credit goes to him for his performance.

“[With the Calleri chance], I don’t think he went for the spectacular. It sounds strange, but for him it was actually easier for him to score like that.

“But it is a decent point. We defended as a team and prevented them to just a couple of chances, with the big one coming from Arnautovic when Adrian made a good save.

“We read all their situations and we created four or five chances and unfortunately we couldn’t score.”