Aaron Cresswell has hailed the excellent character shown by West Ham United in the battling defeat at Southampton.
It took a late and debatable penalty for the Saints to best the Hammers on Saturday, having secured an early and seemingly unassailable advantage in the first half.
The south coast side had stormed into a 2-0 lead through Marco Gabbiadini and Dusan Tadic, while West Ham United had Marko Arnautovic sent off, but still Slaven Bilic’s side battled for a result.
It seemed like the Irons’ hard work and determination had paid off as Chicharito scored twice with terrific prowess either side of half-time to draw West Ham United level.
But a draw was not meant to be as Charlie Austin tucked away a spot-kick in stoppage time to give the Saints the victory.
Despite the loss Cresswell believes there is cause for optimism in the performance and is delighted with the character West Ham United showed in battling back from 2-0 down.
“I would say we showed great character,” Cresswell said: “We were 2-0 down and we had gone down to ten men and then we came back into the game. I think we fully deserved it, the way we reacted to the decisions that went against us in the game.
“I think it’s great character from us but it’s really disappointing to lose.”
The left-back enjoyed a decent outing, creating four chances for his teammates and playing the crucial cross that led to Javier Hernandez’s second goal.
Cresswell was keen to stress the hard work West Ham United had done over the week following the loss to Manchester United, and feels that commitment was also seen in the match at St Mary’s.
The defender is now keen to look forward to this week’s matches with Cheltenham Town and Newcastle United.
“To be fair we had worked hard all week in the build-up to the game. Some of the decisions were harsh. You look at it from our point our view. We’d worked our backsides off for sixty minutes,” Cresswell added.
We’re feeling down now with the defeat but we’ve got to work hard and get ready for Cheltenham and Newcastle.
Aaron Cresswell
“There’s optimism. We’re feeling down now with the defeat but we’ve got to work hard and get ready for Cheltenham and Newcastle.”
The Hammers could welcome back playmaker Manuel Lanzini for the match with Newcastle at the weekend and Cresswell is eager to see the Argentinian back in the team.
“He was arguably our best player last season so of course he’s been a big miss for us,” Cresswell added: “We’ll welcome him back but we’ve got to work on the things we do wrong and put them right.”