The West Ham United first team squad have hit the ground running in their pre-season tour to Austria
- Hammers arrive in Austria for pre-season training camp
- Friendlies against FC Slovacko, Rubin Kazan and Karlsruher SC this week
- Team building up to UEFA Europa League opener on 28 July
Following a tour of the United States, which included games against MLS side Seattle Sounders and Carolina RailHawks, Slaven Bilic and his team will now play three matches in the space of a week in the central European country.
Departing from London Heathrow early on Sunday, the travelling party included the likes of Gokhan Tore, Darren Randolph, Enner Valencia, Michail Antonio and Cheikhou Kouyate, who link up with their teammates for the first time this summer.
Immediately upon arrival in Austria, Bilic put his side through their paces on the training pitch, with goalkeeper Adrian delighted to get down to work.
He said: “It was a good first day, training after our flight. We’ve started all together again with most of the squad and I think we have a good ten days ahead of us with three friendly games.
“We have to prepare as strongly as possible and be fit for the Europa League game on 28 July.
“It’s good to have Darren and Rapha here and to work together again. It’s the most important thing to be competitive for us, and to give 120 percent in each training session, so for me and the rest of the goalkeepers it’s excellent.
With a UEFA Europa League third qualifying round tie against either Shakhtyor Soligorsk of Belarus or Domzale of Slovenia now less than two weeks away, the Hammers’ training camp in Austria offers the perfect preparation.
Bilic will also lead his side into three testing pre-season friendlies – the first of which will be played against Czech outfit FC Slovacko in Rohrbach on Tuesday.
That is followed 24 hours later with a game against Russian side Rubin Kazan in Krottendorf.
The final game of the tour is against Bilic’s former side Karlsruher SC of Germany, in Kapfenberg on Saturday.
Follow full coverage of the tour right here on whufc.com and across our social media channels throughout the week.