By Hughie Southon
It’s taken longer than we all hoped but Jarrod Bowen is coming back to his busiest best!
And the number 20 is determined to push on from the pressurised Southampton game as the team head into a game against Newcastle United tomorrow night.
He admits that the win over the Saints was certainly not the prettiest but that it’s one we use to launch an attack on the April fixtures.
Jarrod’s stats were excellent on the day against the south coast side. He recorded four tackles and an 88 per cent pass completion.
He also won the free-kick which led to the goal when he was bundled over by Duje Ćaleta-Car to set up Emerson’s great ball in Nayef Aguerd.
“I was speaking to my family before the game and all I was saying was I couldn’t care how we won the game, as long as we got a result that was the most important thing,” Bowen stated. “And we did that.
“We knew how important Southampton was. There was a lot of pressure on it. But in the end, it is a massive three points.”
West Ham, in Bowen’s own words, ‘dug deep’. They had to. The pressure was on.
“When the goals don’t come, you’ve got to keep your performance as high as possible,” Bowen explained. “I have got to bring my ‘A game’ to help the Club as much as possible, especially in the position we are in right now.
“Before the game, there was pressure. It was a massive game – and getting that first goal was so important. They had a couple of chances, but, on the whole, we were on the front foot and trying to score the second goal. And even though it didn’t come, we didn’t concede. We dug in really well and got an important three points.”
Bowen knows the importance of kicking on across all competitions, with eight games still to play this month of April.
“We have another game [on Wednesday], “And we can [use the win over Southampton] and keep moving up the table. We can take this momentum and take a lot of confidence going into Newcastle, which won’t be easy.
“But we are doing really well at home at the minute. We have a great fanbase here. You heard the roar at the final whistle [against Southampton]. And we want to keep putting good performances in for this Club.”