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Hammers set the standard says Villa man

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John McGinn: Aston Villa midfielder close to return after ankle injury,  says Dean Smith | Football News | Sky SportsWest Ham are setting new standards not only for themselves but for other clubs with ambitions.

Villa boss Steven Gerrard spoke in glowing terms of the journey upon which David Moyes had led the Hammers after we beat Villa last weekend.

Today it was Arsenal’s turn to do the same beating  them 1-0 at Villa park and this time it was midfielder John McGinn’s time to mention us and make a similar point.

The Gunners win means they are now firmly entrenched in fourth place with 54 points from 28 games – six points ahead of us.

They will take some catching but nothing is impossible for the Hammers right now and they have become the model by which Villa want to be judged along no doubt with several other clubs.

Obviously recalling the game last weekend, after explaining how comfortable Arsenal are eon the ball McGinn made his big point about the Hammers.

He said: “Arsenal were comfortable on the ball and it took us far too long to get involved in the game.

“We weren’t good enough on or off the ball and showed Arsenal too much respect. We had words at half time to be more aggressive, to get after them more. We want to be where West Ham are, that is the target and it is about sticking on the same page.”

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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