Stewart Downing says West Ham United will need to be clinical to beat his former club Aston Villa on Saturday
Stewart Downing says West Ham United can upset former club Aston Villa’s Barclays Premier League survival hopes, provided they pack their shooting boots for Saturday’s trip to the Midlands.
The Hammers created chance after chance in their 1-0 home win over ten-man Burnley at the weekend, but the margin of victory should have been far greater.
Instead, Downing and his teammates contrived to pass up a succession of opportunities, failing to score from a staggering 22 attempts on goal in the second half – the highest number of any top-flight club this season.
“It was a difficult game actually, until the sending-off, because I thought Burnley probably settled the quicker and we didn’t really get out of the blocks,” the No11 told West Ham TV.
“After that, we created a lot of chances, I can’t remember how many it was. Their ‘keeper has pulled off some unbelievable saves and with better a little bit better finishing we could have put it out of sight.”
West Ham did score once, from the penalty spot, after Michael Duff had tripped Cheikhou Kouyate midway through the first half – an offence for which referee Jonathan Moss controversially dismissed the centre-back.
“Cheik has done really well and the lad has got to make the tackle or else I think he scores,” Downing observed. “I think the red card is a bit harsh, isn’t it, and it changes the game because it gave us a lot more space to play.
“It was a great penalty. Tom their ‘keeper is jumps around and makes himself big but Nobes keeps his calm in those situations and it was a great penalty and got us off and running. From then on, we played some really good football and defended quite well.
“It was wave of wave of attacks and chances but we didn’t kill it off. We’ve not won in a long time, though, so we have got to take the win.”
The Hammers created chance after chance in their 1-0 home win over ten-man Burnley at the weekend, but the margin of victory should have been far greater.
Instead, Downing and his teammates contrived to pass up a succession of opportunities, failing to score from a staggering 22 attempts on goal in the second half – the highest number of any top-flight club this season.
“It was a difficult game actually, until the sending-off, because I thought Burnley probably settled the quicker and we didn’t really get out of the blocks,” the No11 told West Ham TV.
“After that, we created a lot of chances, I can’t remember how many it was. Their ‘keeper has pulled off some unbelievable saves and with better a little bit better finishing we could have put it out of sight.”
West Ham did score once, from the penalty spot, after Michael Duff had tripped Cheikhou Kouyate midway through the first half – an offence for which referee Jonathan Moss controversially dismissed the centre-back.
“Cheik has done really well and the lad has got to make the tackle or else I think he scores,” Downing observed. “I think the red card is a bit harsh, isn’t it, and it changes the game because it gave us a lot more space to play.
“It was a great penalty. Tom their ‘keeper is jumps around and makes himself big but Nobes keeps his calm in those situations and it was a great penalty and got us off and running. From then on, we played some really good football and defended quite well.
“It was wave of wave of attacks and chances but we didn’t kill it off. We’ve not won in a long time, though, so we have got to take the win.”
Going to Villa Park is a difficult game and they’ll probably target us as a winnable game, but if we create our chances like we do and take them better than we have done, I think we can go there and beat them
Into the second half and Downing felt West Ham should have been awarded another spot-kick when the winger went down as he passed Ben Mee. Instead, Moss booked the Hammers player, much to his obvious anger and frustration.
“The referee made some decisions – he gave the red card and I thought mine was a penalty – and he had a mixed day, but even then we had a lot of chances. I had a couple of volleys blocked, Kev had one saved and so did Enner.
“It was wave after wave of chances and that’s the only disappointing thing because I thought we defended very well. Reece had another good game at the back and has slotted in really well – he’s been a big plus over the last two games.
“We had been conceding late in games and losing points, so that’s two clean sheets and back to winning ways, so hopefully we can finish strong. We’re ninth in the table and it’s in our hands to have a really good finish, get over the 50-point mark and that’s a really good season for us.”
So, while West Ham may have not boosted their goals-for tally as they should have done against the Clarets, Downing is hopeful that they will hit the net with more regularity when they travel to Villa Park.
There, Tim Sherwood’s side beat Everton 3-2 at the weekend to rise to 14th, albeit just two points above the relegation zone with three games remaining.
“It’ll be tough at Villa as they have done ever so well since Tim Sherwood came in. They had a big result against Liverpool in the FA Cup and it’s helped us in the league.
“Going to Villa Park is a difficult game and they’ll probably target us as a winnable game, but if we create our chances like we do and take them better than we have done, I think we can go there and beat them.”
“The referee made some decisions – he gave the red card and I thought mine was a penalty – and he had a mixed day, but even then we had a lot of chances. I had a couple of volleys blocked, Kev had one saved and so did Enner.
“It was wave after wave of chances and that’s the only disappointing thing because I thought we defended very well. Reece had another good game at the back and has slotted in really well – he’s been a big plus over the last two games.
“We had been conceding late in games and losing points, so that’s two clean sheets and back to winning ways, so hopefully we can finish strong. We’re ninth in the table and it’s in our hands to have a really good finish, get over the 50-point mark and that’s a really good season for us.”
So, while West Ham may have not boosted their goals-for tally as they should have done against the Clarets, Downing is hopeful that they will hit the net with more regularity when they travel to Villa Park.
There, Tim Sherwood’s side beat Everton 3-2 at the weekend to rise to 14th, albeit just two points above the relegation zone with three games remaining.
“It’ll be tough at Villa as they have done ever so well since Tim Sherwood came in. They had a big result against Liverpool in the FA Cup and it’s helped us in the league.
“Going to Villa Park is a difficult game and they’ll probably target us as a winnable game, but if we create our chances like we do and take them better than we have done, I think we can go there and beat them.”