Aaron Cresswell conceded that West Ham United were simply not good enough in the 2-0 defeat to Everton, and will need to recover quickly to claim more points in the remaining games.
First half goals for Everton – courtesy of Kurt Zouma and Bernard – saw West Ham’s unbeaten start to 2019 at London Stadium come to an end, and Cresswell said the Toffees deserved to take the points on Saturday.
“It was a bad day at the office,” Cresswell said. “Everton fully deserved the win. We weren't good enough throughout the whole game, particularly in the first half. It wasn't good enough. They went 2-0 up and that was too hard to come back from.
“It was one of those days, and we need to put it behind us now. We are now looking forward to our last six games.”
Everton fully deserved the win. We weren't good enough throughout the whole game, particularly in the first half.
Aaron Cresswell
Heading into this weekend’s match with Everton, West Ham had won the previous three matches at London Stadium, with the Irons most recently beating Huddersfield 4-3 having been 3-1 down.
Cresswell – who served as captain on Saturday in Mark Noble’s absence – admitted manager Manuel Pellegrini tried to invoke the spirit of that game in his side.
“It was three on the bounce we won, and against Huddersfield we were 3-1 down, and then we came back to win the game,” Cresswell continued.
“The manager said that to us at half-time, about that game, but it wasn't to be.”
With just six games left in the season, Cresswell said West Ham are still looking to claim seventh place – and a place in the Europa League – but knows that the Irons are in for series of tough games.
He added: “We're aiming for seventh place. The top six is done now and that seventh spot is where we want to be. But there's four teams who want that and it's going to be tough.
“Six games to go, with some tough games in there, and we want points from them.”