Few headers are cooler in a pressure moment than Aaron Cresswell’s.
The experienced left-back, now approaching the culmination of his eighth season as a Hammer, has admitted that Thursday evening’s UEFA Europa League quarter-final first leg fixture against Olympique Lyonnais is probably the biggest of his career so far.
Yet the 32-year-old, much like his manager, spread a message of calm ahead of the occasion, aware that it is intensity, desire and team spirit which have taken West Ham United to their first major European quarter-final in a generation.
Cresswell knows that seasoned European practitioners Lyon – themselves in the UEFA Champions League semi-finals as recently as two seasons ago – will pose the Irons’ biggest threat in this season’s competition so far.
And with the first leg at home this time around, the left-back has called upon his teammates to remember that not all can be won or lost in the initial 90 minutes at London Stadium.
"I think the most important thing is we don't get carried away with just the home occasion,” Cresswell said at his pre-match press conference.
“The atmosphere I’m sure will be electric, it will be a fast start, but there are still two legs, so we can't get carried away after the first leg. Hopefully we get a good result to go away to Lyon.
“[Without away goals] you’re not going to be chasing. It's over the two legs. It's the same for us as Sevilla. We were 1-0 down in the away leg [and came back to win 2-1 in the second].
“It’s arguably the biggest game of my career. A lot of our squad haven't been in a European quarter-final before.
“You’ve got the likes of Kurt [Zouma] who’s played in the Champions League, but there aren’t many others I don’t think who have gone far in the competition.
“In terms of preparing, nothing changes – it's another game. We're not going to get carried away with the whole quarter-final. We're ready to go and you'll see that on the night.”
While some have argued that, given the strength of the Irons’ home form so far this season – having scored in all but two of 22 matches at London Stadium in all competitions – they will enter the first leg as favourites.
But Cresswell exemplified the professionalism he is well-known for by keeping feet firmly on the ground – even in the knowledge that, should his team advance, they could face either Germany’s Eintracht Frankfurt or La Liga giants Barcelona in a European semi-final.
“The camp is always positive,” he smiled. “We've got a great team spirit and we’ve shown that over the last three years.
“We've got a small, tight-knit squad and I think that takes you a long way. We're looking forward to the games and a potential semi-final against Barcelona is massive.
“We don't want to be looking at what people from the outside are putting on us, what odds we are at. We're not favourites. We've got to concentrate on our game.
“We’re in the quarter-finals of the Europa League. It's not going to be easy at this stage now – teams don’t get here by luck, and we certainly haven’t.
“We've earned the right to be there. As a squad, we haven't got many players who've come this far before. It's another game and one we're fully focused on.
"Certainly, we've earned the right to be here. Through our performances over the last two years in the Premier League, week-in, week-out, that has got us into this competition.
“In the competition this year, we’ve been fantastic. We came up against arguably the favourites, Sevilla, who had won it six times out of the last 16 years, and to overcome that, I think we did well. We're fully focused now on Lyon.”
As proved so profitably the case on Sunday, when Cresswell netted the opening goal with a 25-yard effort in the 2-1 win over Everton, the full-back believes set-pieces could play a key role in the Hammers’ attacking threat.
“Set-pieces have been a big part of our game and we've been really successful under the gaffer,” Cresswell noted.
”I’m sure they [Lyon] will be sitting down and analysing what we’re good at and what our weaknesses are - exactly the same as we've been doing with Lyon.
“We’ve been building up on the training pitch since Everton to figure out what the best way is to play them, and I’m sure they’ll be doing the same.
“Sometimes, when one [free-kick] goes in, it gives you that little bit of confidence and the next free-kick we get, whether it’s Thursday night or Sunday, for sure I'll be there willing to take it. I'm sure everyone thinks the same.”
After their heroics at London Stadium in the round of 16 win over Sevilla, Cresswell is relishing the prospect of another red-hot atmosphere generated by the Claret & Blue Army.
The 32-year-old smiled: “Certainly, with the progression the Club's made over the last two years, it [London Stadium] is kind of our fortress now and teams have found it hard to play against us there.
“We’ve been there six years now and certainly, the atmosphere against Sevilla was special, so hopefully we can replicate that again."
