Behind-the-scenes improvement hailed by Nuno as West Ham look for more clean sheets

West Ham’s head coach was in up beat mood when speaking to the press ahead of West Ham’s trip up north.

The Irons travel to Bolton Wanderers for a second game in three days and in front of the media Nuno was reflecting on the biggest improvements in his team’s weekend performance against The Rams. Not surprisingly, rather than merely focussing on the three-nil scoreline, it was the back line’s performance that drew special praise:

“The attitude and commitment we showed is what we need and want..

“I think there has been an improvement in defence. If we compare Derby to our previous game, and dealing with the direct ball, I think the guys did really, really well.

They are doing their job, and this is what we need. They will be ready to go again against Bolton on Tuesday night.”

Overcoming easy season vulnerability from set pieces – corners and long throws – will have done much to solidify his team’s confidence in the last couple of games. Mavropanos and Kilman did look far better – but of course the limited threat from Derby’s pretty average attack helped the Hammers duo solidify their partnership and protect Hermansen’s goal, with the Dane required to make but a solitary save all afternoon:

“More than anything, I think we managed parts of the game well. Derby didn’t create many chances, and that is really positive.

When it is 1-0 there is still some anxiety, but you have to keep your stability and keep playing the game, knowing that when the moment comes, you have options to kill it.” (whufc.com)

Confidence is the key in this post -relegation Hammers defence whilst the introduction of Joel Veltman shouldn’t be underestimated as further reason for their solidity. Wether his 34 year old legs will be ready to go again tomorrow seems  a little unlikely – in which case the diminutive Kyle Walker Peters might be unable to offer the same prowess in ‘dealing with the direct ball’.