Pedro Obiang praises committed Claret and Blue Army

Pedro Obiang

 

Pedro Obiang has thanked the Claret and Blue Army for marching all over the country in the opening weeks of the new season.

Logistical work at London Stadium has meant West Ham United have had to travel to Manchester United, Southampton and Cheltenham Town in their first three games of 2017/18, with Saturday’s trip to Newcastle United completing a quartet of away fixtures to kick-off the campaign.

After losing at Old Trafford and St Mary’s Stadium, the Hammers rewarded the 1,100 supporters who followed their team to Gloucestershire on Wednesday, when goals from Diafra Sakho and Andre Ayew secured a deserved Carabao Cup second-round victory.

“I think we have to give a mention for them because in the last two games they have given everything and they came here and did it again,” he told whufc.com.

“It is far to Cheltenham and now I know this place! I think we were a little unlucky because we are playing away when playing at home is better, but their support means it’s OK.”

I think we have to give a mention for them because in the last two games they have given everything and they came here and did it again

Pedro Obiang

The typically non-stop support of the Hammers faithful undoubtedly played their part in Wednesday’s win, and Obiang is now targeting a long run in the competition.

“We have to try because we have a really nice squad and I think the mentality of the squad, the owners and everybody is to want to do something, be it in the Premier League or the cup,” he confirmed.

Fans


While they may have come against League Two opposition, a victory and clean sheet at Whaddon Road will have boosted West Ham’s confidence ahead of Saturday’s trip to Newcastle United.

And, after being left out of the starting XI at Southampton last weekend, Obiang is hoping to be involved again at St James’ Park after making a team-high five tackles in midweek.

“We needed to have these positive things,” he confirmed. “We needed to win and to score goals because that is the way we can change our future.

“Of course it’s important for us because in the last games we have conceded a lot of goals. If you start to win the games, we can change the mentality, so Wednesday’s game was important because it means we can go to Newcastle with a different mentality.

“It’s important for the strikers to score because if they score they have more confidence for the league. It’s beautiful if we can score too, but it’s more important if they can score.

West Ham kick-off at Newcastle at 3pm on Saturday and you can follow the game right here on whufc.com with our live blog from 1pm.