Forward Jarrod Bowen says West Ham United showed a positive reaction in their hard-fought 1-1 draw with Tottenham Hotspur and believes their European fate lies in their own hands.
The Hammers can only focus on themselves in their bid to secure a fourth consecutive season of continental competition, with their next three fixtures coming against sides below them in the Premier League table.
Brennan Johnson’s tap-in put Tottenham ahead after five minutes, but the Irons levelled when Kurt Zouma’s deft finish from a corner looped into the far corner past Guglielmo Vicario.
It looked set to be a thriller, however, both sides lacked the final cutting edge at a rain-soaked London Stadium and ultimately the spoils were shared.
“That’s what we needed [a performance full of resilience],” said Bowen. “The goals we conceded at the weekend were nowhere near good enough and tonight was about being a lot more tougher and keeping the ball out of our net.
"To a man I thought we fought excellently. We were playing Tottenham who are a top side, create problems for everyone they play and are going for the Champions League. We had to dig in at times and you've seen that everyone was on their knees at the end, but this is what these derby games take to play against a top opposition.
“We wanted to start strongly as it was a derby game, and you have to be up for it and start fast. We wanted do that and went 1-0 down which wasn’t amazing, but we got back into the game through a great header from Kurt [Zouma] and then there were chances all game.
"I think we had some really good opportunities, and they had some as well. It was an open game, and it was probably fun to watch. The last ten minutes were difficult, but we stick in there and on another day, we could have got all three points. There are a lot of positives to take, especially after Saturday.
“[For the early chance] I knew Mo was going to cross the ball and thought Mick was going to take a touch, but he said he got pulled down quite late, so I couldn’t react in time and got put off a bit.
"The keeper definitely caught me late [right at the end], but we obviously didn’t get the decision. I think Tomáš [Souček] played me through and it was one of those bouncing ones where I was trying to help it on, but I felt as if the keeper wiped me out.
"We go to Wolves on Saturday who are also fighting for the European places. In the last three games we have played teams in and around us and if we want to finish in the European places then we need to get results from these games.
"Saturday was disappointing, tonight was an improvement and this coming Saturday we [need to] go there and win the game. That’s the mindset we need to have. We then go on a run of games of teams below us, but they are still tough opposition."
Bowen's assist this evening saw him register his 28th goal involvement of the season, which is one more than Dimitri Payet in 2015/16, and the most since John Hartson managed 26 years ago.
And the 27-year-old is hoping to continue his red-hot form ahead of an exciting run-in, harbouring ambitions of breaking the 20-goal barrier sooner rather than later.
“I just want to keep on doing what I am doing," said Bowen. "I think I’ve spoken all season that I just want to keep that consistency level in my game and keep getting goals, assists and I think that is all I can do.
"Being on corners with the players we have in the box helps that as well. Dinos [Mavropanos] was so unlucky not to score from one in the second half, it was millimetres from when I crossed it to going over the line. It’s one of our main strengths and we can really hurt people with them. I think every corner we had tonight we had a chance from.
"I just want to keep on doing what I’m doing and getting those goals involvements and want to break the goalscoring record.
“There is not long between the games, so we need to recover, do our preparation, and go to Molineux on Saturday and turn up."
