Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Boyers 

Pablo Fornals is the latest Hammer to claim that the three friendlies have put the squad in a good place to take on Arsenal on Boxing Day evening.

Jarrod Bowen said the same after the Fulham game but of course we all know it’s the sort of stuff the guys come out with  at various times of the season and always of course on the official site.

It’s the media department’s job to ensure as positive a spin on things as possible despite our worrying position in the league.

Fair enough but we will all no doubt put our own interpretation on the games which saw us claim two victories over lowly Cambridge United and decent Udinese before managing a draw against the only Premier League team we faced.

Fornals excited in the final game and has every right to be pleased with his own performance and now reckons we are in a good place for Boxing Day.

He told www.whufc.com: “These games have been important for us to build up to Arsenal. We know it’s not the Premier League [in these warm-up games] but we’ve played against great teams and we’ve had good results.”

Cambridge United great? Something lost in translation there perhaps.

“I think it brings us a positive mentality because we need and deserve [the results] after very good weeks of working hard.

“It felt good out there on the pitch. I think we did a good preparation against great teams. It was a big test on Saturday to play against another Premier League team and I think we did quite well.

“We had some really nice work, we tried to do what we’ve been doing in training and that’s the most important thing.”

The Hammers will receive a further boost this week when their quintet of players involved in Qatar – Declan Rice, Lucas Paquetá, Nayef Aguerd, Alphonse Areola and Thilo Kehrer – return to Rush Green and Fornals was delighted for all of them to represent their countries on the global stage.