West Ham United skipper Mark Noble called for whole Club to stick together after his side were beaten 3-0 at Newcastle United on Saturday.
The Hammers were comfortably beaten in the north east with Joselu, Ciaran Clark and Aleksander Mitrovic goals sealing the win for the hosts.
Aaron Cresswell had the best of the chances for Slaven Bilic’s side, firing just over from a tight angle in the first half before testing Rob Elliot in the second with the score at 1-0.
But Noble, who admitted the performance was not good enough at St. James’ Park, insisted it is time for everyone to support each other after three consecutive Premier League defeats.
“We are going to lose games, we know that, but as a club we need to stick together,” said the skipper after the defeat.
“The West Ham fans, I’ve known for all my life, and they show their emotions; so they should. That’s down to us to make it right on the pitch and I’m sure we’ll do that. At this time, we fully need them to get behind us.
“It’s wasn’t good enough, today. We looked like we just didn’t get going. But we didn’t seem there today – I’m not sure why – but maybe it’s a bit of tiredness from the midweek game and the travelling.
I’ve known the West Ham fans for all my life, and they show their emotions; so they should. That’s down to us to make it right on the pitch
Mark Noble
“But it shouldn’t be, we’re professionals and we should be doing better. We didn’t start too badly, we had a couple of half chances, and the crowd here were looking for that first goal and we got that, and we fell away at the end.
“The atmosphere in the dressing room isn’t great, but we’re lucky it’s early in the season. It’s not the start we wanted to have, and we haven’t looked good at the minute. But it’s why we play the sport, there are highs and lows.”
The Hammers fell behind at the end of the first half when Declan Rice was robbed of possession, leading to a Newcastle counter and Joselu’s opener.
Noble believes, however, Rice’s mistake will be a moment the youngster can learn from in the future.
“Declan is an 18-year-old kid, a fantastic footballer and if I’m honest, [the mistake] will probably do him good,” he continued.
“He will realise that the game isn’t all rosy and when you come on at Old Trafford and play in the cup at Cheltenham and do well, it’s not always as easy [as that].
“We’ve all made mistakes, we’ve all done it, but I know Declan is a top player and he won’t let that mistake bother him at all.”