Robert Snodgrass said that West Ham United failed to take their chances in the defeat to Liverpool.
Goals from Mohamed Salah and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain handed the Reds a 2-0 victory at London Stadium, but the home side were not without their own opportunities to find the net.
Snodgrass himself forced a flying save from Liverpool’s Alisson while Declan Rice also went close. Angelo Ogbonna and Manuel Lanzini also had good chances to score, but ultimately could not beat the Reds’ shot-stopper.
The midfielder feels the Irons can ultimately be happy with how they performed against Liverpool but bemoaned the failure to take the opportunities that presented themselves.
It’s one of those nights. Their ‘keeper has pulled off some great saves and we’ve conceded goals that we worked really hard in training to stop.
Robert Snodgrass
“It’s a hard one, Snodgrass said. “You’re playing against the European champions and they’re the out-and-out favourites to win the league. We’ve had a lot of chances there and you’ve got to take them to give yourself a chance. We conceded a penalty, which we’re disappointed with, and then a goal from a counter-attack from our set-piece.
“There’s a lot of positives to take though. The lads were miles better than what we were at Leicester and we’ve just said in the dressing room that that’s the minimum from now until the end of the season; that work-rate. We’ve run the European champions close, but it’s disappointing, but we need to get ourselves ready for a tough game [against Brighton on] Saturday.
“It goes that way sometimes for you. It’s one of those nights. Their ‘keeper has pulled off some great saves and we’ve conceded goals that we worked really hard in training to stop. You can’t gift Liverpool penalties, especially at a point in the game where we had a good shape and they couldn’t break us down. We had our chances.”
The Scot hailed the backing of the home supporters at London Stadium on Wednesday evening, and feels the Irons fans responded to the heart shown by the West Ham players on the pitch.
He continued: “The crowd were right behind us, as they always are. The supporters are magnificent. They are always behind us and, first and foremost, you have to give them something to cheer about.
“There’s a minimum level of work rate and determination, and we showed that, and that’s why they got right behind us. It needs to be the same for Sunday.”
Snodgrass was back in the starting XI on Wednesday as one of six changes from the weekend, another of which saw Academy defender Jeremy Ngakia make his first ream debut for the Hammers.
The No11 was impressed with how the 19-year-old held his own against the Premier League leaders.
Snodgrass added: “He’s a terrific talent. We’ve got a lot of talent coming through and all us professionals are trying to nurture these lads as best we can.
“It is a tough game to throw him in, but we’ve got to test them mentally and physically and see where they’re at, but he was terrific tonight. He came into a team that was willing him to do well.”
