Nordtveit wary of fellow Norwegians

Hull City programme
Havard Nordtveit told the Official Programme he is looking forward to facing not one, but two familiar faces when West Ham United host Hull City on Saturday.

The Hammers welcome the Tigers to London Stadium in the Premier League, with Slaven Bilic’s side looking to record back-to-back top-flight victories for the first time this since April.

To do so, they will need to quiet Hull’s two Norway internationals, Markus Henriksen and Adama Diomande – two players their compatriot Nordtveit knows very well.

Striker Diomande joined Hull from Norwegian club Stabaek in 2015, while midfielder Henriksen is currently on a season-long loan from Dutch side AZ Alkmaar.

The trio all started Norway’s recent FIFA World Cup qualifier with Germany, and the No4 says West Ham will need to keep a close eye on them this weekend.

 “Henriksen had a very good time in AZ and came this season to Hull, while Dio is just pure power and you don’t find many Norwegian players with such strength,” Nordtveit observed.

“They both have the offensive power we need to be aware of, so I’m looking forward to the game.

“You need to be very good to get out of Norway and show what they can do, so they are both very good players.”

For Nordtveit himself, the game represents another opportunity to build on his encouraging display at Liverpool last weekend.

The former Borussia Monchengladbach man has endured a challenging start to life in English football, but he told the Official Programme he feels better about his chances of establishing himself in Claret and Blue after that performance.

“I’m always positive. I was born positive, so I’m working hard every day,” he said. “The games I’ve played, I know I can play much better, so I’ll take it game-by-game and day-by-day and hopefully I can be a good player for this Club.

“Hopefully with the Christmas time coming and so many games, we can take as many points as possible and get out of the lower part of the table, because the quality in this team is much better than that it says in the table.”

Saturday’s 100-page Official Programme is crammed full of exclusive news, views and more, including columns penned by Joint-Chairman David Gold, manager Slaven Bilic and captain Mark Noble.

Also inside, fans can hear from Reece Oxford on the signing of his new long-term contract, Hammer of the Year Steve Potts on the day he scored a historic goal against Hull, Jack Collison and the great Sir Trevor Brooking.

Ian ‘Moose’ Abrahams talks to London 2012 long jump champion and football fan Greg Rutherford, while youngster Alex Pike is looking to build on his recent first-team experiences.

Saturday’s issue is available to order online here now, and will be on sale in and around London Stadium on matchday, priced £3.50.

Alternatively, you can download a digital edition to your tablet, smartphone or laptop for just £1.99 from 9am on matchday.