Tyrone Mears has been reflecting on West Ham's
European night of action at Upton Park and said there was plenty of
positives to take from the game, of which all would be put straight
into action against Newcastle on Sunday.
The Hammers full-back insisted that while the team were
disappointed with the result, they had enough belief in themselves
to go out to Italy in two weeks time and still pull off a result.
But for now the focus will return to getting three points over the
Magpies in the Premiership.
Tyrone said: "Against Palermo, I thought we were unlucky,
especially in the first half, it just wasn't happening out
there for us. On another day, we could have had four or five in the
bag.
"If you look at our chances - the one Carlos had, Marlon hit
the post when he came on, then Yossi, the ball came over, but it
was just too far in front of him. It was just little things that
didn't work out for us, but the aim now is to turn that around
and into three points in the league at the weekend.
"As I said, we can take a lot of positives from this game and
can definitely put them to good use in the next couple of weeks.
"In the second leg, we will take the game to them, not sit
back. Obviously we won't be going guns blazing, because we
won't want to concede another goal, but if we are calm and play
our game, then I don't see why we can't still get a result
out there."
For Tyrone and many of his team-mates, it was the first time
playing a European match and while the result might not have gone
the Hammers' way, the experience, he feels can only add to what
the team already has to offer.
And he said another major factor was the supporters, who he said
were great in trying to push the team forward.
"The crowd were magnificent, they really were. They have
been in all the matches I've experienced at West Ham so far,
but they really got behind us and it was just a shame we
couldn't get a result to go with the atmosphere.
"If the crowd is like that all season, then I'm sure we
will get lots of good results, league and cup, it's a real
boost."
Tyrone said it will not be a case of heads down in disappointment
over the next few days, more heads down and working hard to get
points on the board on Sunday.
"Thursday's game has gone now and we have a new match to
look forward to. Things are looking positive, the new boys are
settling in more and more every day. The hype that surrounded them
on arriving here is over and we can do what we are best at and just
concentrate on what's happening on the pitch.
"We have a squad full of quality players that can turn things
around. Newcastle are a big club and it will be a tough match, but
we are a big club, we're at home and we will definitely be
looking to go out there and get three point against them.
"The last few games, the results haven't gone for us as
such, but we have still showed in our performances that we can dig
in and get something out of it, like against Charlton this season,
it nearly happened at Liverpool and we came back against Villa.
"Of course you want to be getting a string of wins together,
but it's still very early in the season. And if we can get a
bit of luck added to what we know we can do, then we're going
to be firing for sure."
For exclusive post-match reaction to last night's match from Carlton Cole and Danny Gabbidon tune into WHUTV now!