Joe Hart believes Monday’s Premier League home-opener with Huddersfield Town is a ‘must-perform game’ for West Ham United.
The goalkeeper returns to Hammers duty after helping England to the brink of qualification for the 2018 FIFA World Cup finals courtesy of qualification victories over Malta and Slovakia. Those successes have given Hart a welcome confidence boost, as his previous three appearances this season had all ended in Premier League defeats.
Next on the agenda is the 30-year-old’s London Stadium debut, with the in-form Championship Play-Off winners providing the opposition.
“It’s a must-perform game in front of our home crowd,” Hart told whufc.com. “We’ve had four away games and all four were packed to the rafters in the away end.
“We won at Cheltenham but in the other three, in the Premier League, we have not performed to the level that we want to perform to.
“So, on Monday night, it’s our duty as West Ham players to turn up, perform and give our all.”
On Monday night, it’s our duty as West Ham players to turn up, perform and give our all
Joe Hart
Hart took great heart from his performances in England’s Group F victories at Ta’Qali National Stadium and Wembley, where he conceded just a single goal, scored by Slovakia’s Stanislav Lobotka just three minutes into Monday’s win.
Undeterred, he produced an important save from Adam Nemec to keep his country level at 1-1, allowing Marcus Rashford to score the goal which put England just two points from Russia 2018. Hart now has his eye on a third World Cup finals and the chance to replace the nightmares he suffered at the 2014 World Cup and Euro 2016 with happier memories.
But before then, he wants to celebrate his first victory in a West Ham shirt, rewarding the Claret and Blue Army for their loyal support in the process.
“I’m happy and ready to work. The beautiful thing about football is that, when things have not gone so well for you individually or as a team, you get another opportunity to put things right. That’s what we’re going to be ready to do on Monday.
“We’re going to Rush Green, we’re going to train hard and it’s our duty to perform to the highest level in front of our great supporters.”
Standard Tickets for Monday’s first-ever Premier League visit of Huddersfield are available via the Ticket Exchange here.