Angelo Ogbonna says West Ham United are getting closer to where they want to be after Saturday’s dramatic victory against Sunderland.
Winston Reid struck at the very end of the London Stadium contest to give the Hammers all three points and make it back-to-back victories for the first time this season.
For Ogbonna, two clean sheets and two victories are an important boost and now he wants to build on that further when he takes on his former boss Antonio Conte in the EFL Cup on Wednesday night
“The atmosphere is good in the changing room, and it always has been,” he said. “We knew that we had to get back [to winning] so Saturday was an important result.
“It was really hard to get back, because Sunderland wanted to move away from the bottom of the league and it was an important win.
“If we keep this level of performance it will be good for us. Step-by-step, the Premier League is a really tough league, so we have to be focused.
“I am looking forward to playing Chelsea on Wednesday. We are playing in front of our fans, so the expectation will be high and we will prepare well.
“I have a really good relationship with Antonio Conte, but this is football and I will put that to one side on Wednesday.
“Every game is tough. We played really well in the first half, pressed, kept the ball, and sometimes you need a bit of luck.
“The most important thing is the performance. They weren’t good at the start, but now they are quite good.”