Jarrod Bowen returned to the team last night and admitted he and the Hammers  could have done better.

Never anything less than honest, the £23m signing declared that the Hammers had enjoyed some really good chances making it clear that he was responsible for missing out.

A one goal defeat by an own goal may seem like a game of tight margins. In reality that is some way from the truth.

Beyond the first five or so minutes when Mikey Antonio made some dangerous runs on the United goal, the hosts were allowed dictate the play against a side in which the manager chose to play what was effectively a defensive formation.

Bowen worked hard, had his chances but like, the rest of the team, eventually found the lads missing out on chances which was a real disappointment.

And talking to to whufc.com afterwards he said: “We’re obviously disappointed to concede from a set-piece where we’ve been really strong this season, but we had the ball in some great positions in the final third – myself included – and we didn’t capitalise on it.

“You’ve got to stay in the game and you’ve got to impose yourself on the game as well. There are different spells in games where we’ll be on top, winning the ball back high which I think we did well, especially in the second half, and there will be times like in the first half where we were penned in a bit.

“It’s just about different times in the game, different stages. Right up to the last whistle, you could see the work rate we were putting in, how much we wanted it, but it just didn’t fall for us.

“We had a couple of shots blocked and things not dropping for us, but at the end of the day we’ve lost the game and we’re disappointed and gutted by the way we probably weren’t at the levels we expect ourselves to be at.

“We’re going to lose games in the season – but what we’ve done well this season is, when we’ve lost a game, we’ve reacted really well the game after.”

Image courtesy www.whufc.com

Such a fixture falls next Sunday, when David Moyes’ Hammers will host  Arsenal at London Stadium.

The No20 confirmed: “We’ll be going for three points going into the international break and for the final run-in to the season, so we’ve got to stick together.

It’s great when we win games and things are going well, and a real test of character and the spirit of the group when we lose the game and we’re on the back of a defeat.

We’ve got to stick together, learn from this game, analyse it and take it into the next game.

There’s going to be disappointment along the way but it’s about learning from it and putting it right next weekend.”

Having been restored to Moyes’ starting line-up at Old Trafford, Bowen was also pleased to get 90 minutes under his belt, having featured from the substitutes’ bench in the Irons’ previous two league outings.

Bowen admitted: “I’ve been disappointed in myself the few games before and I’ve been out the starting eleven, which I probably deserved for my performances.

“I’m always wanting to learn and I know when I don’t play at my level. That’s the Premier League.

“Tonight was about getting back in the team, playing my game and getting that confidence back. Now, we’ll see what happens next weekend.”