Lukasz Fabianski says West Ham United’s four-day, two-match trip to Austria will be the ‘final stage’ in the squad’s preparations for the new Premier League season.
The Poland goalkeeper made his Hammers debut in Saturday’s 2-1 victory at Ipswich Town and is sure to feature again when his new team take on SCO Angers and 1. FSV Mainz in their final two pre-season fixtures.
And Fabianski, who joined up with West Ham after his post-FIFA World Cup break last Monday, is relishing the opportunity to get more training sessions and game-time under his belt this over the coming week.
“I think it’s all about getting right all the things we need to improve on,” he observed. “We will put in more work on the tactical side of the game and then just getting sharper and sharper.
“That’s the final stage of the preparation and I think we can be quite happy with the work we have done so far.”
In pre-season there is a lot of hard work, but I think you can see there is quality in the group and hopefully we’ll get better and better with every single game and will be ready for the season
Lukasz Fabianski
Reflecting on Saturday’s win at Portman Road, where he got one over fellow countryman Bartosz Bialkowski in the Ipswich goal, Fabianski was pleased to make a winning start in the West Ham goal.
“I thought we played well,” said the 33-year-old, who made smart saves in each half to deny Gwion Edwards and Andre Dozzell. “We won the game, that’s the main thing. For me personally, it was my first game after a bit of a break, but I think it was positive and I’m really looking forward to the next games.
“You could see we have a quality group. All the players put a lot of effort into Saturday’s game and you could tell it wasn’t easy because we just played three days before.
“In pre-season there is a lot of hard work, but I think you can see there is quality in the group and hopefully we’ll get better and better with every single game and will be ready for the season.”
Fabianski is clearly relishing his future as a West Ham player in the Premier League, having made the switch from relegated Swansea City in June, and spoke positively of his own and his team’s prospects for the upcoming campaign.
“As a footballer, you have to be prepared for all the different periods you’re going to go through.
“Obviously going down was not the ideal way for me to leave Swansea. It’s not the best feeling to have, but when you’re in the Premier League I think it’s the toughest competition and you have to be ready for almost anything.
“It happened, but now I’m here and I’m really happy to be here, I’m really excited about the new challenge and I am just looking at the future.”