Mohamed Diame has paid tribute to his former club Wigan Athletic prior to his return to the DW Stadium on Saturday.
The Senegal international is predicting a 'special' match, but will be pulling no punches as he aims to seal another West Ham United win. Speaking to whufc.com ahead of Saturday's showdown, Diame has described how much he is looking forward to meeting some old friends - and then doing all he can to beat them.
"It is a really special game for me on Saturday because I spent three years there and it is the first time I am going back," Diame said. "I cannot wait to see my friends, the fans and everybody who is at the club, so I am looking forward to it but I want to comeback with the win."I have got a very good relationship with the club and the people treated me very well starting from the Chairman right down to the bottom. Like I said I am very happy to be going back to Wigan Athletic but I hope to leave with three important points."
Turning his attentions back to his current club, Diame praised the attitude shown by his fellow team-mates and staff so far. Like his manager, the West Ham No21 puts the Hammers' flying start down to hard work in the summer.
"We have started the season very well and everybody has worked very hard during the games and on the training ground. We get the job done in every game and if we can get another three points on Saturday we will be in a good position ahead of a tough game against Manchester City.
"I am really enjoying playing with this team, the squad is very good and we are enjoying working together. When you start the way we have it is good because you can enjoy every moment, every training session and every game.
"I think it is very important to win on Saturday because after that we face a big challenge playing against the sides in the top four."
The Hammers picked up their first three points on the road against Queens Park Rangers in their last away game and Diame admitted there will be no margin for error against Wigan's attacking threat. That was clearly evident in last month's Capital One Cup match at the Boleyn Ground, when the Latics ran out 4-1 winners.
"Wigan lost a few important players over the summer like Hugo Rodallega and Victor Moses, but the manager has still got them playing good football.
"I think they will have a lot of possession so we need to make sure we kill the game when we have opportunities to do so."