Mads Hermansen is not the sort of personality to get carried away, but the softly spoken Danish goalkeeper allowed himself a smile after keeping a deserved clean sheet in West Ham United’s 3-0 Premier League win at Nottingham Forest.
The No1 did everything he had to do with the minimum of fuss at the City Ground, holding onto all three shots on target unleashed by the home side, catching, punching and kicking confidently and enjoying the protection afforded to him by his outfield teammates.
For Hermansen, who kept his first shutout as a Hammer and previously played for Forest’s local rivals Leicester City, it was a sweet Sunday afternoon back in the East Midlands.
“It’s definitely a lovely afternoon here in Nottingham!” he grinned. “We’re just happy to finally get on the board, both with a clean sheet and three goals, three points. It’s an amazing feeling.
“I think it was a pretty decent performance from everyone, from the team. We defended really, really well. We only allowed them a few crosses, a few shots on goal from positions where we could handle it. So, overall, I’m just really, really happy with the performance.
“As we spoke about in the dressing room, I think we still have so much more to give as a group, quality-wise on the ball. So, we will definitely take our team performances to a higher level.”
The level-headed 25-year-old is certainly not likely to get carried away with one win or one clean sheet, but he also knows collectively that this is not a result or achievement to be overly celebrated.
Instead, it is one to build upon when we welcome Tottenham Hotspur and Crystal Palace to London Stadium after the September international break.
“I think the good thing with football is there’s always a new game the next week,” he observed. “It’s about not getting too high or too low. We’ve just got to keep on going and we really showed that as a team today, that we’re strong.
“I always love the big games, and I love to go out there and show what I can do and what we can do as a team, so I can’t wait!”
While Hermansen was pleased to keep the ball out of his own net, he certainly enjoyed his front-row view of watching Jarrod Bowen, Lucas Paquetá and Callum Wilson putting into Forest’s!
“I love when we score!” he beamed. “I love when my team score, and I enjoy the celebrations. It’s always fantastic. We could have scored an even more beautiful one with Jarrod in the end, but it was a good save [from Matz Sels], but it was lovely overall.”
