New father Winston Reid is looking forward to playing in his first UEFA Europa League match in seven years on Thursday evening
Winston Reid is juggling life as a new father of twins with preparing for Thursday’s UEFA Europa League visit of Birkirkara.
The defender, whose wife Yana gave birth to Arianna and Damien earlier this month, is set to make his European debut for West Ham United against the Maltese challengers.
With the Boleyn Ground set to be rocking again, the No2 told West Ham TV is relishing the opportunity of swapping changing nappies for stopping strikers…
So, Winston, you are now a proud father of twins! How has that been?
“It’s really good. Obviously it is an amazing feeling when they were born and I’ve got a lot more respect for my wife after seeing what she had to go through! It was an amazing feeling.
“We were very fortunate that everything went really well, even though it took a bit of time. The kids are good.
“My wife understands that we have loads of games and training at the moment, so she has been taking on the load during the day, but once I get home I take part as well.”
You have played in the Europa League before for Danish club Midtjylland, so what do you expect from Thursday’s game with Birkirkara?
“When you play in Europe, you are playing against different teams from different countries who obviously have different styles of how they play, so you never quite know what you’re going to meet compared to when you play in the Premier League where it is more open, expansive and up-tempo.
“Thursday night could be a case of trying to pick a hole in their defence and it might take a bit of time, so we have to make sure we keep the ball very, very quickly and are patient.”
The defender, whose wife Yana gave birth to Arianna and Damien earlier this month, is set to make his European debut for West Ham United against the Maltese challengers.
With the Boleyn Ground set to be rocking again, the No2 told West Ham TV is relishing the opportunity of swapping changing nappies for stopping strikers…
So, Winston, you are now a proud father of twins! How has that been?
“It’s really good. Obviously it is an amazing feeling when they were born and I’ve got a lot more respect for my wife after seeing what she had to go through! It was an amazing feeling.
“We were very fortunate that everything went really well, even though it took a bit of time. The kids are good.
“My wife understands that we have loads of games and training at the moment, so she has been taking on the load during the day, but once I get home I take part as well.”
You have played in the Europa League before for Danish club Midtjylland, so what do you expect from Thursday’s game with Birkirkara?
“When you play in Europe, you are playing against different teams from different countries who obviously have different styles of how they play, so you never quite know what you’re going to meet compared to when you play in the Premier League where it is more open, expansive and up-tempo.
“Thursday night could be a case of trying to pick a hole in their defence and it might take a bit of time, so we have to make sure we keep the ball very, very quickly and are patient.”
When you play in Europe, you are playing against different teams from different countries who obviously have different styles of how they play, so you never quite know what you’re going to meet
When you were with Midtjylland, the boot was on the other foot and you had nothing to lose when you faced Manchester City and pushed them all the way to a penalty shootout in 2008, so could Birkirkara take a similarly relaxed approach?
“They will come to London with nothing to lose, and back then at Midtjylland that’s the way we used to do it. Obviously we’re a Premier League club with a big fan base and hopefully there will be a lot of supporters there and they’ll be looking forward to the game and put on a good show as well.”
On the squad front, we now have five senior centre-backs plus Reece Burke and Reece Oxford knocking on the door. Competition for places…
“This was obviously one of the areas the manager was looking to strengthen and he wanted to bring in extra bodies, so we now have quite a few centre-halves.
“It’s only good to have competition around the place and hopefully it will keep everyone on their toes and ready to go whenever needed. That’s the main thing.
“I’m sure there are going to be loads of games this season, so there are going to be lots of opportunities for everyone. It’s a matter of, even if you have to sit out every now and then, work hard and stay positive.
“There are always injuries throughout a season so I’m sure everyone will get their game time and the most important thing is that the team improves on last year.”
“They will come to London with nothing to lose, and back then at Midtjylland that’s the way we used to do it. Obviously we’re a Premier League club with a big fan base and hopefully there will be a lot of supporters there and they’ll be looking forward to the game and put on a good show as well.”
On the squad front, we now have five senior centre-backs plus Reece Burke and Reece Oxford knocking on the door. Competition for places…
“This was obviously one of the areas the manager was looking to strengthen and he wanted to bring in extra bodies, so we now have quite a few centre-halves.
“It’s only good to have competition around the place and hopefully it will keep everyone on their toes and ready to go whenever needed. That’s the main thing.
“I’m sure there are going to be loads of games this season, so there are going to be lots of opportunities for everyone. It’s a matter of, even if you have to sit out every now and then, work hard and stay positive.
“There are always injuries throughout a season so I’m sure everyone will get their game time and the most important thing is that the team improves on last year.”