IN THE league table that matters, West Ham United are currently looking good after seven rounds of games, ahead on goal difference thanks in no small part to their demotion of Wrexham on Friday night. All will change if Middelesboro’ beat Millwall on Tuesday night as they’ll leapfrog a crowded top three to go ahead on merit.
However, evidently West Ham defenders have their eyes on other stats in order to secure their promotion back to the Premier League.
In terms of numbers of clean sheets kept, the Irons rank just ninth, with just two shutouts to Mads Hermansen’s name. It is a key metric and one which defender Kyle Walker Peters has admitted the defenders are prioritising.
Just two shutouts means Mads Hermansen’s defence are well down against the targets they’ve set themselves
Speaking about the Wrexham game, Walker Peters confirmed to the whufc.com, web site:
“We kept a clean sheet at the other end, which obviously is the main job of a defender…
Focusing on the clean sheet, Walker-Peters revealed that the players have set a target for shutouts to ensure the Hammers finish in the top two come the end of the season.
“It’s huge,” he confirmed. “It’s something we spoke about actually as a defensive unit. We spoke about how many clean sheets we need to get automatically promoted.
“So, we have our target and that’s another one added, so we’re really happy.
Currently leading the way with four clean sheets are promotion rivals rivals Swansea City, so West Ham have a challenge ahead for their notoriously leaky defence to up their performance.
Summer reinforcements Joel Veltman and Brazilian Morato look like strong additions to the squad and well able to boost the Hammers’ defensive credentials, but it is an area in which the Irons will have to work especially hard given that their most dynamic defender Axel Disasi – who managed seven clean sheets in 17 league and cup games – left the club in the summer when his loan ended. More’s the pity.