As someone who regularly challenged for a top-four finish with Arsenal, Łukasz Fabiański knows a thing or two about handling the pressures of competing near the top of the Premier League table.
Following their fourth consecutive Premier League win, 3-2 at Crystal Palace on Tuesday evening, West Ham United climbed into fourth place, above the likes of Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, Everton, Arsenal and Chelsea.
While there is a long way – 18 games to be exact – to go, Fabiański and his teammates are unbeaten in eight in all competitions, playing some eye-catching and resilient football, and have lost just three of their last 18 Premier League matches.
As manager David Moyes has repeatedly said, he is not setting any targets and believes there is still plenty of improvement in his players, but both he and his goalkeeper are also looking forward to the closing months of the season with optimism rather than trepidation.
We need to push each other every single day, in every single training session and get the best out of what we have as a team, that’s the main thing
Łukasz Fabiański
“We’ve been talking about the fact we are in a very good position and on a very good run and the manager is constantly repeating that we’ve set standards really high and we just don’t want to let them drop,” the No1 told West Ham TV. “We want to continue to push, continue to give our best and take each game as it happens and see where it takes us.
“I don’t think we should change anything at all. We just need to continue to work hard, continue to push and even if you look at our game in the FA Cup against Doncaster, you could see the energy, everyone was up for and the quality was there, and that’s what we need to do through the whole season.
“We need to push each other every single day, in every single training session and get the best out of what we have as a team, that’s the main thing.
“We’re in a good position at the moment, but we need to continue to push hard.”
On Tuesday evening, West Ham fell behind in a Premier League match for the first time in 2021 when Wilfried Zaha fired Crystal Palace in front inside three minutes, but instead of panicking the Irons regrouped, were level on nine minutes and ahead on 25 through two Tomáš Souček goals.
The chances continued to flow and Craig Dawson headed in a third midway through the second half, rendering Michy Batshuayi’s added-time strike a mere consolation.
Rather than knock the Hammers out of their stride, Fabiański felt Zaha’s early goal served as a catalyst for their outstanding performance.
“The start was bad, conceding that early, but it was a very good wakeup call and from the moment we conceded the goal we picked ourselves up really well,” he observed.
“We started to dominate the game and control the game and create a lot of chances, so sometimes you need a little spark like that. It’s not ideal when it’s a negative one, but the reaction was amazing so I’m very pleased with that.”
