Tomkins - I want to fight for my place


West Ham United defender James Tomkins says he is determined to fight for his place back in the side and hopes to show Slaven Bilic that he should be a regular member of the first-team.


Tomkins was outstanding in the opening victory over Arsenal even though he was asked to play out of position at right back.


The talented defender lost his place in the team for the next home game against Leicester and was brought on towards the end of the first half during the 4-3 defeat against Bournemouth last weekend.


Tomkins is now hoping to earn a starting place against Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday and hopes to help the Hammers get their season back on track.


Tomkins said: “I am willing to fight for my position and it is something I strive on.


“You have got to better yourself every time you go out onto the training field. I am looking forward to seeing what the team is on Saturday and hopefully I will be playing.


“It was disappointing going out of the team after coming away a good victory at Emirates Stadium.


“But it is all about showing what you can do in training and getting the performances in when you can. I want to stay in the team.


“It is important that we bounce back very quickly. We are all very positive in the changing room and need to keep believing in what we are doing because we have already showed that against a big team like Arsenal.”


Tomkins is relishing the chance to come up against Liverpool's new summer signing Christian Benteke and knows he will be a major threat to the Hammers defence on Saturday.


But the 26-year-old hopes he will be able to keep him off the scoresheet and help the Hammers come away with another big away win this season.


Tomkins added: “He is a great striker and fully deserves his move. He is very good in the air and is a handful to play against at times.


“Attacking wise they are very good and (Philippe) Coutinho has also been playing well. We will need to be wary all-round the pitch but hopefully we will cause them problems as well.


“I know people will say that the odds are against us after the last two games but no-one expected us to get a result like we did against Arsenal and hopefully we can do the same again. We know that we can perform well against the big teams.


“We want to play as soon as we can to get over the disappointment of the Bournemouth result and this game cannot come quick enough.”


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