Jarrod Bowen wants West Ham United to ensure Southampton do not enjoy any Christmas cheer when the Irons head to St Mary’s Stadium on Boxing Day.
For the second time in December, captain Bowen will lead his team into action against a newly-promoted opponent playing under a newly-appointed manager, and the skipper is determined that history does not repeat itself.
Three weeks ago, Leicester City somehow managed to secure a 3-1 win over the Hammers in Ruud van Nistelrooy’s first game in charge, despite the Londoners having a record 31 goal attempts.
This time around, the Irons take on a Southampton side playing at home for the first time under former Genoa, Torino and Roma boss Ivan Jurić, who was appointed on Saturday and watched Sunday's goalless draw at Fulham from the stands.
Bowen said he and his teammates need to learn from their mistakes at King Power Stadium and produce a performance and result to send a 3,000-strong Claret and Blue Army back up the M3 celebrating a festive three points.
Should West Ham win and make it eight points from four matches since that Leicester defeat, the 28-year-old believes his team can go into mouth-watering fixtures with Liverpool and Manchester City either side of the New Year with renewed optimism and confidence.
“It’s three games unbeaten against some good sides, as we beat Wolves at home, we've gone to Bournemouth away and got a point and then drew at home to Brighton,” said the No20. “So, from where we've been, and then going to Southampton on Boxing Day, if we can win that game, it's four unbeaten, and it's a real turning point for us in the season, I think.
“I think fans always love that game after Christmas Day, spending time with families and loved ones and then all going to the football together. I think on Boxing Day, traditionally, it's a really good game for fans to come and watch, and we know our fans will be travelling down in numbers on Boxing Day, so we want to put in a really good performance and pick up three points.
“Listen, we played Leicester when it was Ruud van Nistelrooy's first game in charge at home, and we're going into the same situation with Southampton.
“They picked up a good point away at Fulham on the weekend, and we know it’s their first game at home [under a new manager]. Like we've just said about the fans enjoying the game on Boxing Day, the fans will be right up for it. The players will have a real buzz about themselves as well with a new manager so I think it's down to us as players to learn from what happened at Leicester and make sure it doesn't happen again.
“We have two really good games after Boxing Day. We play Liverpool at home and they’re obviously flying on top of the Premier League and the Champions League and are looking really strong.
“And obviously Man City are still champions for however many years in a row. We know that they've got a quality side. They've got a lot of quality on the day that can really hurt us, so they’re two really good games, but the full focus now is on Southampton.”
