West Ham United’s Premier League clash with Burnley is almost upon us, and El Hadji Malick Diouf says he and his teammates will be counting the visit of the Clarets as one they need to win.
The Hammers welcome the newly promoted Clarets to London Stadium seeking to make it back-to-back top-flight wins after defeating Newcastle United 3-1 on home turf last Sunday. A two-goal margin of victory would take the Irons above their opponents from Lancashire and out of the bottom three ahead of the November international window.
And Senegal international left-back Diouf says the squad are fully motivated to earn three points that will see the Irons continue to climb the Premier League table.
“I think we have to win,” stated the No12. “We have to, because if we want to get closer to the top half of the table, it's going to be really difficult if we don’t win these games at home. It's a final for us.
“Last Sunday (against Newcastle) was a really big test for us. The fans were waiting for the victory, and we showed that we never give up and that we have the quality to come back. I think we showed a lot of character, and I think it will help us a lot going forward.
“It feels good to be back in training after our first home victory of the season, as we’ve also been waiting for this victory, so we’re all very happy and positive. I remember when we played against Nottingham Forest, it was the same. We won the game, and it was positive for us.
“If we do it again this weekend before we go off with our national teams, we can take more confidence, and I think it would be really good if we did.”
Diouf has made an immediate impact at West Ham, both on and off the pitch. An energetic, bubbly character, the 20-year-old has enjoyed a fine start to life in east London since his summer arrival from Slavia Prague.
To have achieved what he has with Tromsø and Slavia Prague in the last two-and-a-half years is quite the achievement, and the ceiling looks to be incredibly high, and Diouf himself believes he will continue to improve as a player.
“Every game I will take a positive,” he said. “I have to do more. I just want to go and continue my way and try to be good in the future.
“It’s been a different experience for me at West Ham, so to progress my football, to progress my mentality, I have to adapt.
“I have a lot of experience, and we have a lot of players who have been there. Every weekend we face a different player, a different team, a different system, so I think it's the best challenge for me.
“I play against a really good player and a really good winger every week, and I think here in the Premier League you have to think about defending before you attack.”
There was an even more telling response when asked about his footballing journey and what motivated him to become a footballer.
So, when Head Coach Nuno Espírito Santo and his coaching staff put up photographs of our players as children in the dressing room before our win over Newcastle in an attempt to remind them of their childhood dream of playing football at the highest level, it served as an extra source of inspiration and motivation for our No12.
He explained: “You have to believe in yourself. You have to be sure you know how you want to be. If you're in Senegal, you see the family, and you have to go away to help them. I was always thinking of how to help my family, and now I'm here [in London] in the Premier League.
“He (Nuno) wants to motivate us. The pictures in the dressing room before the game were really funny, and everyone was laughing. We felt that everyone was ready for the game.
"I took the picture, and I said, 'After we win, I'll put it in my [Instagram] story,' so I think it was great.
“It reminded us that we were born for these moments, and when I saw the picture, I was happy and more motivated. I was a ball boy in my picture, and everyone was laughing. I think it's a really good picture, but I don't know how he found it!”
