Cresswell - We can overcome Astra draw

Aaron Cresswell is still confident West Ham United can make progress in the UEFA Europa League, despite seeing a two-goal lead slip in the first leg against Astra Giurgiu,

The Hammers now head to Romania needing to win on Thursday, but Cresswell says they showed enough in the first hour of the game to show they can progress.

Before that, West Ham take on Werder Bremen for the Betway Cup on Sunday and Cresswell believes the Hammers will be well prepared for the season opener at Arsenal next week.

He explained: "We were dominant in the first half and well in control of the game at 2-0, but the game changed when James Collins got sent off. I still thought we had to be stronger to see it out.

"It's not going to be easy going away to Romania and we've got Arsenal on the Sunday as well. We want to go as far as we can in the competition and we're going to try to do that.

"We've probably played the most pre-season games of anyone. It's been a hectic schedule but it's been a good opportunity for the youngsters to show the Gaffer what they can do.

"We've had Saturday-Tuesday-Thursday over the last few weeks and the likes of Reece Oxford and Reece Burke have a bright future in front of them."