O'Brien ready for Saints test

Joey O'Brien wants more of the same from the Hammers when they take on Southampton at the Boleyn Ground on Saturday.

West Ham United followed a promising performance against Tottenham by ruthlessly defeating Crystal Palace 3-1 last weekend and O'Brien believes a similar performance would yield another three points.

He said: "The defeat to Spurs in the first game was hard to take as they're a local rival. In the game we played pretty well and if anyone was going to win it I thought it was going to be us.

"We bounced back well against Crystal Palace so we're looking forward to Southampton and if we get three points we would have taken six from the nine.

"Mauro came into the game and scored the first goal. First goals in Premier League games are always vital - that put us on the front foot and we never looked back from there."

O'Brien has been impressed with how the new signings have bedded into life with the Hammers so quickly - but hopes the same is not the case for Southampton's new boys.

He added: "It does take time for most players to adapt, but you get some like Cheikhou who has come in and been brilliant in the first couple of games.

"He looks made for the Premier League and when those players join you it's great for the team and great for the manager.

"For Mauro too, he'll look at himself as a goalscorer - it was a special goal against Palace and that'll give him confidence.

"Southampton have brought some top players in. On one side of things you hope that they haven't really settled in yet, but on the other side they are top players and can hurt you.

"The manager has talked us through how they play and hopefully we'll get a good win on Saturday."