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Hammer Coufal spells out Anfield approach

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Vladimír Coufal has made it very clear that the Hammers must be absolutely at their best and make no errors whatsoever against Liverpool this afternoon.

The Hammers will be looking for their fourth Premier League win and only their second at Anfield in 60 years.

Confident Coufal is not fazed by any of that but knows there is no margin for error against Jurgen Klopp’s outfit

Coming from behind to win 3-1 against TSC on Thursday evening boosted the team ahead of one of the  toughest games of the season.

Vladimír Coufal in training

He explained that the squad prepared for every game in the same way and that they  are 100 per cent concentrated for both competitions, at home and in Europe.

He said: “Obviously we know Liverpool will be a much tougher opponent but the preparation is still the same.

“Teams have been ahead of them this season, but they have lost.  It is important to score the first goal and it is a big advantage, but they have showed they are a very big team again with big character and quality to turn the game.

Coufal, who was rested for the Euro game but was pleased with what he saw from the team that took on TSC.

He said: “The atmosphere was good  and I did not expect so many people, so big credit to our fans, they came and supported us and made a good atmosphere for us.

“I think we controlled the game from the first minute, it wasn’t the best performance we’ve played, but we controlled the game.

“We created some chances and in the first 15 minutes we could have scored, we were unlucky to be 0-0 at half-time.

“We obviously conceded after our mistake, but that happens and we showed that we are a big team, with resilience and we turned the game around to win. That’s the most important thing for the first game in the group.”

Vladimír Coufal smiles in training

Mohammed Kudus and Dinos Mavropanos joined their fellow new signings James Ward-Prowse and Edson Álvarez in making strong impressions when they had their chance from the off against TSC, with Kudus notching a full debut double and Mavropanos providing a resolute screen at the back.

“They are really good guys in the changing room,” Coufal added. “They are absolutely switched on to our style and how we want to play.

“Kudus showed on Thursday how quick, how strong he is and his technical skills. James Ward-Prowse, it’s unnecessary to speak about him – he’s a Premier League player and from what he did at Southampton.

“Now he’s scored twice and assisted five goals in his first five games. The quality of set pieces, he puts it exactly on the spot he wants.

“Edi Álvarez, this guy is crazy. I love him because you can see in training, every single minute he’s going 100 per cent.

“Dinos Mavropanos, he’s a very good guy too. He’s huge and had a very good game on Thursday.”

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Hugh Southon is a lifelong Iron and the founding editor of ClaretandHugh. He is a national newspaper journalist of many years experience and was Bobby Moore's 'ghost' writer during the great man's lifetime. He describes ClaretandHugh as "the Hammers daily newspaper!"

Follow on Twitter @hughsouthon