Mark Noble says West Ham United will have to be at their best to put a stop to Wolverhampton Wanderers’ ‘adrenalin rush’ this afternoon.
The Hammers go into Saturday’s game seeking their first Premier League points of the season after three successive defeats, while newly-promoted Wolves will arrive at London Stadium on a high after holding Everton and champions Manchester City to impressive draws.
And Noble, who made his first-ever League start against the men in Old Gold in January 2005, knows Manuel Pellegrini’s team will need to grab control of the match if they are to stop the likes of Wolves’ Portuguese playmakers Joao Moutinho and Ruben Neves.
With the international break coming up, we want to get the win today and go into it feeling good about ourselves
Mark Noble
“We play Wolves today and they took a great point from their game against Manchester City last weekend,” said the skipper, who returns to the squad after missing last weekend’s trip to Arsenal with a back injury. “Clubs who are promoted used to, in the main, be cautious in their spending, in the knowledge that they could be going straight back down.
“But Wolves and Fulham have spent big during the summer though and they will have noted that all three clubs who came up last season, survived.
“They also have that adrenalin rush that goes with promotion – and playing in the Premier League – and it is our job this afternoon to slow them down and play the game on our terms.”
While West Ham have lost their opening three top-flight matches, a midweek Carabao Cup second-round win over AFC Wimbledon has given them a welcome confidence boost going into the Wolves fixture.
And, with a two-week break after this weekend until the Hammers return to action at Everton on Sunday 16 September, Noble knows the importance of chalking up a first Premier League victory and climbing off the bottom of the table in the process.
“With the international break coming up, we want to get the win today and go into it feeling good about ourselves,” the No16 confirmed.
“We’ve had some tough fixtures to start the season and it certainly doesn’t get any easier in September, with Everton, Chelsea and Manchester United next up.
“We start the month against Wolves, though, and if we want to be a ‘big team’, we need to be beating them.”