Angelo Ogbonna hailed the performance of teammate Nayef Aguerd, who made his West Ham United debut in our 1-0 win against Silkeborg IF in the UEFA Europa Conference League on Thursday night.
As David Moyes’ men secured a place in the round of 16 with a fifth straight triumph in Group B, Aguerd made an impressively assured debut at London Stadium.
The No27, who has been out of action since he sustained an ankle injury in a pre-season friendly against Rangers in Scotland on 19 July, was one of nine changes from our 2-0 Premier League win over AFC Bournemouth on Monday evening.
And his skipper for the night, Ogbonna, was delighted by the display Aguerd produced in east London.
“He has a very bright future at West Ham United,” enthused Ogbonna. “He can read the game really well. He is really composed on the ball. He is shouting at everyone already. He is a new leader.
“It was a really good chance for Nayef to play today because he has not played much since he arrived. He has already played a lot of European games and we want to see more from him in the future.”
Skippering the side for the fourth time in his Claret and Blue career, Ogbonna was part of a solid defensive showing that kept Silkeborg at bay at London Stadium.
Perhaps the Hammers should have secured victory by more than a single-goal margin in east London as Pablo Fornals, Saïd Benrahma and Gianluca Scamacca all went close in the second half, although a 1-0 scoreline would be enough for Moyes' outfit.
“We wanted to get three points today to keep our momentum,” Ogbonna explained.
“The most important thing is to keep our momentum. We could have scored three or four tonight. Maybe in the next game, we could do this. We can learn for future games. But we need to keep positive because it’s still three points and another win at home.”
