Goalkeeper Alphonse Areola stressed the importance of everyone at the Club sticking together, following a 2-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest that stretched West Ham United’s winless Premier League run to six games.
Taiwo Awoniyi and Callum Hudson-Odoi's goals in the dying embers of either half proved the difference between the teams at the City Ground, while January arrival Kalvin Phillips was shown a second yellow card with little under 20 minutes of the game remaining.
Areola was kept busy throughout the contest, in particular making a string of fine stops before Awoniyi’s opener, and the France international described the feeling in the dressing room at full-time.
“We’re having a tough time at the moment, but we need keep fighting as a group,” he said. “We share the frustration that everyone around the Club is feeling - we’re here to win, and we don’t want to let the fans down.
“A season is long, and there are always periods of ups and downs. We started well, we’re over halfway now and we’re finding things hard.
“But we’ll keep fighting, and we’ll give everything to get through this spell. We have to stick together, keep our heads up and move forward, because there’s still a lot of football to play and a lot to play for.”
Despite the result, West Ham edged the share of possession in the East Midlands, and Areola commented on the fine margins during the clash, as well as Forest’s effectiveness on the counter-attack.
A home clash against Brentford lies in wait next for the Irons back at London Stadium on 26 February, and Areola is eager to get back on the field and right the wrongs of the Club’s recent form.
He added: “We had control of the ball for large periods today, and showed how we can play. We just didn’t commit as many people forward as we would’ve liked, and their defenders did well.
“We knew that they would look to catch us on the break, but we weren’t able to contain them. The sending off was tough, but we just have to step up, try and avoid these kind of situations going forward and give everything, which we’ll keep trying to do.”
