Victor Obinna is the latest Hammers favourite to speak exclusively to West Ham TV.
The Nigeria forward was captured on camera during and after an intensive shooting session that followed training on Friday afternoon. The 24-year-old stayed out on the Chadwell Heath pitches on his own for the extra work, firing in ball after ball from just outside the area into the net from a host of different angles.
"I believe in working hard," he told West Ham TV, seconds after the last one crashed against the crossbar and down across the line. "And once you work hard it is going to pay off. When you practice, it pays off. I have good shooting ability but I need to keep practising so I can perfect it in the game."
With a wry smile, Obinna acknowledged that he had particularly been lively in shooting for goal in the first part of the season but had not always found the end product. "Obviously I have been shooting so much at the beginning of the season and [many] were going wide. The most important thing now is to keep hitting the target."
When Obinna gets it right, it can make a difference - remember the crucial goal against Wigan Athletic last November, the double away to Blackpool or his hat-trick in the FA Cup against Nottingham Forest. In between, he made all four goals in the Carling Cup rout of Manchester United.
He knows he needs to add more goals to his game and is determined to try and register this Sunday at Manchester City, the first of a quartet of huge fixtures that will determine the outcome of the Hammers' season.
"These games are absolutely massive for us. We need to win almost all of them to stay up. We really played well against Chelsea [last week]. Unfortunately we conceded three goals but let's look at the positive aspect and make sure we continue working hard and striving to do our best."
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HIS CLOSE FRIEND MARIO BALOTELLI AND HIS ADMIRATION FOR THE FANS
