Aaron Cresswell says West Ham United need to keep their Premier League momentum going when they head to AFC Bournemouth on Saturday.
The Hammers travel down the M3 licking their wounds following a disappointing Carabao Cup third-round exit at EFL League One opponents Oxford United.
However, with a five-match unbeaten run to extend, Cresswell says the Irons need to put that game out of their minds and instead concentrate on building on their encouraging league form at Vitality Stadium.
Belief is a massive thing in football, as is confidence, and we’ve kept clean sheets in our last three Premier League games
Aaron Cresswell
“We want to push into that top eight or top seven,” confirmed the left-back, who returned to the team with a spectacular goal in Sunday’s 2-0 home win over Manchester United. “We know how difficult that is, especially with the teams in the Premier League now, and going to somewhere like Bournemouth is never easy, but we’re full of confidence and full of belief and we’re looking to go there and win.
“Belief is a massive thing in football, as is confidence, and we’ve kept clean sheets in our last three Premier League games and had some great victories at the start of the season. It’s still early doors, but we just need to keep this momentum going.
“We know it’s a difficult job to break into the top six, but why can’t we do that? We only just missed out on the Champions League four years ago, Leicester won the league, so why can’t West Ham do something special?
“That said, we concentrate on one game at a time and trying to win the next one, and that comes at Bournemouth on Saturday.”
Cresswell, who was an unused substitute at the Kassam Stadium, will hope to keep his place ahead of Arthur Masuaku, who started against Oxford but missed the Manchester United win through suspension.
However, the No3 insisted the whole squad are united in their goal to take West Ham forward.
“The main thing is the team and some weeks you won’t be playing, so you’ve got to get your head down and work hard,” explained Cresswell, who played his 400th senior game last weekend. “Listen, Arthur is a fantastic player, a great lad, we all get along and, whoever the manager picks, I’ll be supporting him and vice-versa.
“If you ask Arthur or any player, the main thing is the team and everyone would say that.”
