Mark Noble says West Ham United’s performance at Liverpool on Saturday could act as the perfect springboard for his team’s UEFA Europa League tie against Sevilla.
The Hammers may have come up just short in terms of the result at Anfield, but for Noble the display warranted more reward against a side who have now won their last seven Premier League games.
Pablo Fornals, Michail Antonio and Manuel Lanzini all had good chances to secure at least a point for the Hammers, with Noble playing an influential role from the bench as the visitors searched for the equaliser.
They couldn’t quite find it, although the skipper is sure performances of that level will stand them in good stead for the challenges that lay in wait.
“I thought the boys were great on Saturday,” the No16 said. “We created a lot of chances for going to Anfield and the only problem is that you’ve got to finish them.
“They don’t give you many, so when you get them you have to try and put them away. Unfortunately we didn’t do that because it could have been a different story.
“For the boys, I reckon if you ask them, it was a really enjoyable game. We didn’t have a lot of the ball, but to be out there at Anfield and play like that is pretty enjoyable.
“That performance will give us a lot of belief and hopefully we can take that into the Europa League now.
“It’s exciting and hopefully we can perform like that because Sevilla are a top team and we are going to need to perform well.”
Noble relished the opportunity of a final run out at Anfield as his long playing career with the Hammers comes closer to its conclusion.
The 34-year-old has had success on Merseyside in the past, scoring in the Hammers’ famous 3-0 win there in August 2015, and he admitted to a sense of disappointment that he couldn’t add another positive result at the weekend.
“I didn’t really expect to play half-an-hour here,” he said. ”Obviously we knew we had a few injuries and the manager asked me how I was feeling because I missed Wednesday night with a knee injury. I said, ‘Yeah, fine, I can’t wait to get on!’
“Luckily enough I got quite a lot of the ball and really enjoyed it – in fact I didn’t want it to end, it was that enjoyable.
“Scoring at the Kop end was one of the best moments I’ve had – that’s always a dream of a young player and it was the first time we had won here in over 50 years. That was an enjoyable day and we should have come away with something on Saturday too because of the chances we had.”
Before kick-off both teams came together with the crowd in a show of solidarity for Ukraine and Noble spoke on behalf of the whole squad in expressing his feelings of support for his teammate Andriy Yarmolenko.
“I don’t think anyone can put into perspective what Andriy has been through in the last couple of weeks,” he said.
“It’s horrendous and knowing Yarma as a I do – he’s a fantastic person and a great lad around the changing room. For him to have his family stuck there for a while was awful.
“Thank God they’re with him now. I think he needed a bit of time to clear his head because what’s happening in his country is so sad.
"He knows we’re here for him when he needs us and I’m pretty sure he’ll be back to his smiley self soon."
