- Slaven Bilic wants his team to achieve back-to-back victories by winning at Middlesbrough
- West Ham United defeated Crystal Palace 3-0 at London Stadium last time out
- Manager admits four players are battling to overcome 'knocks' to be fit to face Boro
Slaven Bilic wants his team to build on the momentum they built in beating Crystal Palace when they head to Middlesbrough on Saturday.
West Ham United ended a challenging week full of speculation about the future of Dimitri Payet by downing the Eagles 3-0 at London Stadium. Having notched their first victory of 2017, Bilic wants the Hammers to maintain their feelgood factor by collecting another three points at the Riverside Stadium.
However, the manager knows defeating a Boro team that has conceded just four goals in their last six home Premier League matches will be no easy task.
“We have a game on Saturday where we definitely want to keep all this positivity around us,” he confirmed. “We have had it on the training ground this week and we don’t want to lose the momentum.
“We have a very difficult game on Saturday against a team that is very, very solid. They don’t score a lot but they don’t concede a lot or give away too many chances. But again, it’s a good opportunity for us and we’ve got to be on top of our game and I think we have a good chance.
“We’re in a good situation now but we want to be in a really good situation and for that you need points and for points you need performances and for performances you need confidence and atmosphere and everything.”
We have a game on Saturday where we definitely want to keep all this positivity around us
Slaven Bilic
When asked about the job done by opposite number Aitor Karanka, Bilic
revealed his respect for the Spaniard, who guided Boro to promotion last season and has already seemingly established them as resilient Premier League team.
“For every foreigner, especially a manager, to come a foreign country, is much more difficult than it is for a player – it was easier for me as I played here,” he observed.
“For him [Karanka], especially in the Championship, which is a unique competition where you play every day basically, to get a promotion in two seasons is brilliant.
“He got them in Premier League and he was very brave to add some players. Although he got very connected with that squad because they were successful, he knew he couldn’t rely only on them and he needed more quality players.
“So, to get [Spain internationals Alvaro] Negredo, [Victor] Valdes and a few others, you need character and to be a decision-maker. He has done it all. They are hard to beat and very organised so Chapeau to him.”
While Karanka will set his team up to stifle the Hammers, Bilic himself hopes to take an unchanged squad to Teesside, but admitted Andy Carroll, Winston Reid, Sam Byram and Sofiane Feghouli will need to shake off knocks if they are to feature this weekend.