Goalkeeper Adrian is already targeting three Barclays Premier League points at Aston Villa on Boxing Day, after keeping a third successive clean sheet in Sunday’s goalless draw at Swansea City.
In torrential rain at the Liberty Stadium, the Spaniard was only called upon intermittently, but, just as he did against Stoke City a week earlier, made vital saves at pivotal moments.
The Hammers’ custodian saved with his feet from Ki Sung-Yueng in the first half, before clawing away Jack Cork’s rasping drive in the second. Though he is rightly content with another shutout, the No13 called upon his colleagues to end their winless streak at Villa Park next time out.
He told whufc.com: “We need to be happy, because a point away from home is good. But we really need to win already!
“We’re missing so many offensive players at the moment, like Dimitri Payet, Manuel Lanzini and Diafra Sakho, so we are not so fresh in attack. So the most important thing is that we’re defending very well, not just me, all the team.
“The next game, at Villa, they are in a tough position now, so we need to go there and win the three points.
“The Premier League is so difficult. You see the results each weekend and you’re surprised with some results. At the end of the day, it’s one more clean sheet, one more point for us and we need to prepare to win at Villa.”
Unsurprisingly, Adrian reserved special mention for James Collins, who put his body on the line on umpteen occasions to preserve the visitors’ clean sheet. And, as he tends to do, the Spaniard played down his own contribution, significant though it obviously was.
He continued: “Ginge played very well on Sunday, he made some very good blocks and helped us a lot in defence, together with Angelo Ogbonna, Aaron Cresswell and James Tomkins.
“I am the goalkeeper and I always try to help my teammates. I always need to do my best and to keep a clean sheet is really important for me.
“This time I was lucky enough to save some Swansea chances. I thought both goalkeepers did well, Lukasz Fabianski made a couple of good saves too, particularly the one from Enner Valencia.
“We need to keep this same mentality, stay positive, because we’re defending well and to improve that little bit in attack next time.”