West Ham United duo Crysencio Summerville and Maximilian Kilman agree that Monday’s 1-1 draw at Everton marked a step in the right direction, and are looking forward to helping power the Hammers up the Premier League table in the coming weeks.
Forward Summerville was crowned the Player of the Match following an impressive 77-minute showing at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, during which he registered three shots, three dribbles and 29 passes with an accuracy of 93.1 per cent.
The 23-year-old went close to notching his second goal in Claret and Blue, when he profited from a Jake O’Brien mistake and was denied only by Jordan Pickford’s knee, moments before Jarrod Bowen’s second-half strike ultimately earned a point in the wake of Michael Keane’s 18th-minute header.
Having shone since returning from a long injury lay-off with an eye-catching display in the 3-0 win at Nottingham Forest on 31 August, and started each of the Irons’ last three fixtures, Summerville is hoping to continue on an upward trajectory under new boss Nuno Espírito Santo.
“I think the boys all did a really good job today, because it’s always tricky when you go behind, and I’m happy with the result,” he said.
“Personally, I’m just grateful to be back out on the pitch playing, and I’m enjoying every minute. I’m determined to show the fans and everyone else what I’m truly capable of.
“I think the team knows what Jarrod and I can do out wide, and we just want them to give us the ball so we can work our magic. We went 1-0 down, but we stayed in the game and were creating chances, and thankfully Jarrod took one of them.
“He (Nuno) didn’t change a lot, because we only had two days to work with him, but we enjoyed ourselves out there, and I think we did well. Now, we want to build on this and go again on Saturday.”
A tough-looking test away at title hopefuls Arsenal lies in store next for West Ham, ahead of the October international break, and Kilman acknowledged that there are defensive improvements to work on following the concession of another goal from a high ball into the box.
Our No3, who continued his run of starting every league fixture since his arrival in east London little over a year ago on Merseyside, is pleased to have been reunited with his former Wolverhampton Wanderers Head Coach Nuno at the weekend, and is positive about the team’s short and long-term prospects.
Kilman, who has now represented the Club on 48 occasions in all competitions, said: “Nuno’s made a big impact already, but we know we’ve still got a lot to work on. He said that straight after the game, but that he’s got confidence in us, and I think we’re only going to grow as a team.
“We know we need to cut out those little moments that are costing us winning games at the moment. We know we need to find that extra five or ten per cent to win those duels and second phases, and we’ll continue to do that this week.
“Hopefully we can build on tonight, because I think we did well to stick together in a tough stadium. We didn’t have long to prepare with the new manager, and to get a result anywhere in the Premier League is massive.
“We’ve got a few days now before Arsenal, which we know is going to be a tough game, so we’ll try to continue to gel and get ready to give our best.”
