West Ham United’s French duo Kurt Zouma and Alphonse Areola are relishing the challenges facing them between now and the end of the season.
The Hammers welcome title-chasing Liverpool to London Stadium on Saturday, needing to get back on track following back-to-back Premier League losses, in order to salvage their hopes of qualifying for Europe for a fourth successive season.
Skipper Zouma believes his team will need a near-perfect conclusion to the campaign for that to happen, but says they have shown in the past they have the ability to do that.
And with four massive matches remaining, the No4 insists nothing will be left out on the pitch.
“We’re going through a tough spell [of results] right now,” he admitted. “We are not here to find excuses, we just have not been performing as we should have.
“We all want to keep playing in Europe and be at the highest level possible. There are four finals to play – there’s no extra pressure to have, just enjoy the moment. Hopefully we start with a win on Saturday and can keep the confidence going from there.
“They [Liverpool] have no room for mistakes if they want to win the league. We have no room for mistakes if we want to get to Europe.
“It’s going to be a tough game for both teams. With us at home with the fans behind us, hopefully we get the win.”
For West Ham to achieve that, they will need to defend markedly better than they did at Crystal Palace last weekend, when four goals in the first 31 minutes paved the way for a traumatic 5-2 defeat.
Zouma offered no excuses for that Selhurst Park capitulation, and said the onus is on the team to bounce back on the pitch.
“It was all about how we started the game,” he explained. “Coming from the game on Thursday, when we gave our all to try to qualify to the next round in Europe.
“Crystal Palace came around very quickly and the way we started – it was one to forget. Crystal Palace had a better approach to the game and scoring two in the first ten to 15 minutes puts you in a difficult position to win the game.
“Then, all of a sudden another goal comes and another comes and you just want to stop it. That’s football. You go through some tough periods, and coming from Thursday night when we had a good game, to Sunday when we didn’t play, now it’s down to us to bounce back and make it up.”
Zouma was appointed Hammers skipper last summer and the 29-year-old says the position is one he thrives from.
Nothing would give him greater pleasure than leading the team to the strong finish they crave.
“I embrace the responsibility that comes with the captaincy,” he added. “I have my teammates to help me – it’s my first time being captain at such a high level and I’ve really enjoyed it.
“It’s a big honour for me to be the captain of such a great team. It’s a family here and we’ve done great things this season. We’ve still got four games to go and hopefully we manage to finish on a high.”
While Zouma has assumed the captaincy this season, his teammate Areola has also enjoyed a greater responsibility, taking over as first choice goalkeeper in the Premier League.
The 31-year-old Parisian has missed the last two league outings, but is hoping to return to action this weekend and has targeted giving the Claret and Blue Army reason to cheer.
“I’m just enjoying playing every weekend,” he said. “I’ve worked all my life to be where I am now and I’m enjoying that.
“We really started well this season and and now we have to finish very strongly to ensure we don’t throw all the work we’ve done in the bin.
“Our fans are really passionate and it’s good to have fans like that because it helps us a lot to focus on what we have to do.
“We want to make them happy, so we’re here for that, to put the Club on the top shelf.
“We will give everything we can to reach Europe again and bring those emotions to the fans, to us.”
