Aaron Cresswell thanked the Claret and Blue Army for their incredible support at Anfield following West Ham United’s Carabao Cup third-round defeat by Liverpool.
Roared on by nearly 6,000 travelling supporters, the Hammers took the lead on Merseyside when Jarell Quansah diverted the ball into his own net midway through the first half, only for the Reds to level within four minutes through Diogo Jota’s header.
The visitors then had a penalty appeal turned down when Carlos Soler’s flick hit Joe Gomez’s arm, before Jota slotted Liverpool in front. Soler and Maximilian Kilman then saw shots kept out by Caoimhin Kelleher before a second penalty appeal was refused by referee Andy Madley after Vladimír Coufal’s cross hit Konstantinos Tsimikas.
Mohamed Salah then settled the tie with 16 minutes to go by slamming high past Łukasz Fabiański and, after Edson Álvarez had been sent-off for the second of two bookable offences, Cody Gakpo gave the final scoreline a one-sided appearance with two late goals.
Vice-captain Cresswell has been on the receiving end of a number of difficult defeats in his home city but, on this occasion, he felt his team had given a good account of themselves for the first hour and, had those chances been taken or penalties given at 1-1 and 2-1, the game could have ended differently.
“I thought we started the game really brightly," he said. “We knew it was going to be a tough game coming here [to Anfield], but it was one we were ready for. The manager made a lot of changes, and the lads were right up for it. It’s a disappointing night with the outcome, but I thought for the first 60 minutes we were right in the game. I would have to watch the goals back, but I think the first one might’ve been offside.
“When you’re away at Liverpool and go 1-0 up, and if Jean-Clair [Tobido’s] header goes in, then it’s a different game, but to concede straight away is disappointing. It’s an old cliché, but we’ve got to move on now and take the positives tonight. Sometimes the decisions [for penalties] go and sometimes they don’t. The sending off didn’t help, but we’ve got to move forward.
“We’re all absolutely gutted with the result because of the support we had. There were just under 6,000 fans here tonight, which is incredible, but we will do our best to improve and start turning things around."
Cresswell has highlighted the importance of everyone sticking together as West Ham aim to lift the mood with a much-needed win, with the defender insisting that the players are doing everything to fire themselves up the Premier League table.
A fourth defeat in seven matches in all competitions this season makes for unpleasant reading, but the No3 has been at the Club long enough to know that it is early days for Head Coach Julen Lopetegui and a number of summer signings who are still settling into life in Claret and Blue and life in the Premier League.
Cresswell also knows how passionate West Ham supporters are and vowed that he and his teammates, and the coaching staff, will continue to work hard every day to produce improved performances and results.
He added: “It isn’t the start [to the season] that we wanted, and we want to be further up the table and competing at the top and challenging for Europe again. We had three fantastic seasons there, and that is where the Club deserves to be - what the fans want and what we’re striving for.
"We are progressing behind the scenes and working hard, there is no doubt about that. We’ve had some tough fixtures and some bad results, and we know we’ve got to pick it up. We’ve got two massive games now before the international break, and we’ve got to go there and stay positive, stay together, stick together as a Club and keep moving forward."
