Ryan Fredericks is desperate to keep his place in the West Ham United team for Friday’s Premier League derby with Fulham at London Stadium.
The defender spent the previous three seasons with the Whites, making 114 appearances, the last of which came in the west London club’s Championship Play-Off final win over Aston Villa at Wembley last May.
Since winning promotion, Fulham have struggled, winning just four of their first 26 Premier League matches, while Fredericks himself has recovered from injury to take his place in Manuel Pellegrini’s starting XI for the recent draws with Liverpool and Crystal Palace.
And while the flying full-back would love to see his old club stay in the top flight, the West Ham’s No24 insists he will have no room for sentiment in his heart or in his head come 7.45pm on Friday.
Obviously, it’s not going too well for them at the moment, but I’ve changed teams now and my loyalties are firmly with West Ham
Ryan Fredericks
“Of course, I’d love to start on Friday night as I’ve got a lot of good memories and a lot of good friends from my time at Fulham,” he confirmed. “Obviously, it’s not going too well for them at the moment, but I’ve changed teams now and my loyalties are firmly with West Ham.
“It would be great if they could get out of trouble, but I’ve got more important things to worry about for myself than my old club.”
A win for Fredericks and West Ham on Friday would see Pellegrini’s side rise above Everton into ninth and close the gap on Wolverhampton Wanderers and Watford above them to three points and one point respectively.
Seats for the game are available now via the Ticket Exchange.