David Moyes is hopeful his West Ham United side can bounce back to winning ways at the first time of asking following Saturday's dramatic defeat at Newcastle United, with local rivals Tottenham Hotspur set to make the short trip to London Stadium on Tuesday evening.
Harvey Barnes' late brace sent the Hammers to 3-4 disappointment at St James' Park in the first bout of Premier League action after the international break, though they remain seventh in the table and well in the hunt for European qualification.
With eight games of the top-flight campaign remaining, and a two-legged UEFA Europa League quarter-final tie against Bayer Leverkusen to look forward to later this month, Moyes believes there is plenty of reason for optimism in east London, and he is looking for his team to kick-start a strong run-in with a positive showing against Spurs.
Goals from Jarrod Bowen and James Ward-Prowse helped secure a 2-1 win for the Irons the last time the sides met in N17 in December, though Ange Postecoglou’s fifth-placed charges - who are chasing a UEFA Champions League spot - are sure to promise a tough test under the lights.
Speaking at his pre-match press conference at Rush Green on Easter Monday, Moyes reflected on recent showings, commented on thriving attackers and shared his thoughts on the upcoming opposition...
Looking back at Saturday
The result was very hard to take, and I still don't think their second penalty should have been given. In my opinion, Anthony Gordon places his foot and prevents Kalvin Phillips from kicking the ball forward.
Overall, I thought we should have been much more physical and harder to play against in the closing stages of the game, and I think the players would agree with that. I have to give Newcastle some credit as well, and it is what it is.
It's a quick turnaround and we've got another game now, and we'll get ourselves ready to go again. It's a London derby, so hopefully the crowd will be right behind us and we can get out on the front foot.
In-form forwards
Our attacking players have been very good in recent weeks, and that was the case again against Newcastle at the weekend.
I thought some of the individual performances were excellent, and Michail Antonio, Mohammed Kudus and Jarrod Bowen all got on the scoresheet.
Mick getting another goal is very important, and he took his chance very well. All round I think our forward play is very good, and hopefully it is again on Tuesday night.
Big occasions under the London Stadium lights
Over the last three or four years, we've always tried to challenge the big teams at home, and we've enjoyed some really good results.
There are a lot of really good teams in the Premier League, with top players, and we always want to take the game to them and give our supporters something to shout about.
We want to keep the good times coming, and a London derby is something that's easy to get excited about. We're looking forward to it, and hopefully we can pick up the right result.
Tottenham threats
They've done really well this season, and they continue to do so, so we know it's going to be a tough game.
Ange Postecoglou has done a great job - they started brilliantly, and they've been up there towards the top of the table the whole time.
We did pick up a good win at their place in December. This is an entirely different fixture, but hopefully we can get all three points again.
End-of-season expectations
We'll keep knocking on the door for European qualification, and we've got an idea in our heads about how many more points and wins we're going to need to do that.
We've just got to keep at it, in every game. We were close to picking up a victory at the weekend, but didn't quite get over the line, and we have to go again here.
Kalvin's time will come
Kalvin Phillips is a human being, and what he needs is support behind him. We're giving him that, and we're all going to keep helping him as much as we possibly can.
He's a very good, international footballer, and I'm confident we can still make something of the time we've got left with him here.
