The Hammers did things very much the hard way against Silkeborg in Denmark last night – facing a very tricky ending after they had taken a 3-1 lead and looked comfortable for long periods of the second half.
It could have all been very different had Alphonse Aerola not made a late save from Tonni Adamsen to preserve the eventual victory.
However, three points was the objective and that served returning defender Craig Dawson was content with the outcome.
He told www.whufc.com: “We made it difficult for ourselves towards the end. The performance wasn’t great but we got the three points.
“It was a difficult pitch to play on, at times it was scrappy, a bit sloppy, but we got the win in the end.”
Sadly the ” performance wasn’t great” comment has perhaps been heard a little too often this season but on this occasion Daws is probably right – three points was the central objective and surely we are going to improve.
Dawson netted twice in the Hammers’ run to the UEFA Europa League semi-finals last term and wasted no time in adding to his tally this time around, finding the net with a mixture of head and shoulder from Aaron Cresswell’s in swinging corner.
“They all count!” he said “It was a great ball by Cress as always so it was great to get a goal.
“The crowd have been brilliant tonight and they always are. It’s great to be back too, it’s been a while for me [since I last started a game] so it felt great to be out there with the lads.”
“We’ve got a lot more experience in Europe now to take into this year, so we’re just going to carry on, keep enjoying it and see where it takes us.”