Tomáš Souček insists he and his West Ham United teammates are ready to burst out of the blocks at the start of their UEFA Europa League round of 16 second leg clash at home to SC Freiburg.
The Hammers welcome the German Bundesliga side to London Stadium 1-0 down at the halfway point of the tie, with Michael Gregoritsch’s late strike at the Stadion am Wolfswinkel last week currently separating the sides.
A slow start against Burnley back in the Premier League last time out preceded a stronger second half showing, that ultimately rescued a 2-2 draw, and Souček knows the Club need to demonstrate a similar level of energy from the off if they are to progress to the last eight of a continental competition for the third successive season.
“We know we need to be on it from the get-go against Freiburg, and we can’t afford to start like we did against Burnley,” the 29-year-old said. “We need to transfer how we finished on Sunday into how we start on Thursday.
“There was a big difference between how we played in the first half and the second half in our last game. We wasted lots of passes at the start and were poor on the ball, which was frustrating.
“I think we came back out after the break with the thought that we had to go for it and that we had nothing to lose, and we were a lot better. We know we just have to have the right mindset throughout the whole of the Freiburg game, because we’re 1-0 down and chasing the game.”
West Ham’s situation ahead of the second leg has drawn comparisons to the Sevilla match-up at the same stage of the competition two years ago, when a 2-0 win after extra-time on home soil yielded an aggregate win that paved the way for a run to the semi-finals.
Souček, who scored the opening goal on that occasion, is hopeful of contributing to another in a long list of memorable European nights for the Irons, against a side they have already faced three times this season.
He added: “Lots of people have pointed out that this is a similar game to when we played Sevilla. The fans were with us from minute one of that game, the stadium was on fire, and hopefully it’s like that again because we’re going to need our supporters.
“We know how much our run in Europe over the last few years has meant to the fans, and it’s the same for us. The [UEFA Europa] Conference League win in Prague last year was one of the best nights in my life, and we all want more experiences like that.
“We have another opportunity to go deep in a European competition, but we have to take it step-by-step and first up that’s Freiburg. It’s strange to play a team so many times in one year, but we’re confident, hungry and prepared to take them on again.”
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