James Ward-Prowse has challenged himself and his fellow West Ham United players to learn from Saturday’s narrow 1-0 defeat at home to Brentford and produce a positive finish to the season.
The 30-year-old midfielder was introduced as one of three substitutes at the half-time break at London Stadium, with boss Graham Potter ringing the changes in the hope that his charges could turn the tide against the Bees, and bounce back from Kevin Schade’s fourth-minute opener.
His first appearance in Claret and Blue since the opening day of 2024/25 against Aston Villa, following his short-term loan at Nottingham Forest, ultimately ended in disappointment, and Ward-Prowse admitted feeling a mixture of emotions at full-time.
With the Hammers currently sat 16th in the Premier League table with 13 games of the campaign remaining, our No8 acknowledged that things need to improve quickly, but he is pleased to be back amongst it and is firmly up for the challenge.
“I’m pleased to be back, but overall it’s a disappointing day because in the second half we had a really good go,” he said.
“I think the first half didn’t really get going from our point of view, and we needed to have a reaction. When we went back out, I think we were a bit more in control of the game.
“Brentford had something to hold on to and we gave it a go, but based on the standards this Club’s set in recent years it wasn’t good enough in the end.
“We had a good period of training [before the game], working on things we wanted to implement in the game, but I think throughout the game we struggled to implement them.
“It’s still early days though, and for me personally it’s been a good week being back in the building and seeing how the manager’s been working.
“I’ve been looking forward to today all week. It was a nice moment when I came on, and my family were here which was good. It feels like I’m back at home, and hopefully going forward I can contribute to the team.”
Ward-Prowse’s return to east London at the start of this month saw him link up with Potter for the first time, having previously worked with David Moyes and Julen Lopetegui in the wake of his August 2023 switch from Southampton.
The England international has been hugely impressed with the ideas and philosophy introduced by the Head Coach so far, and with the loan arrival of Evan Ferguson and fellow teammates returning from injury, is confident about what the team can achieve going forward.
“It’s been great being back in the building, and working under the new manager,” Ward-Prowse added.
“I’ve really enjoyed the messages he’s been trying to get across and it’s up to us to try to implement that as best we can, and try to keep building on what we’ve done so far.
“I firmly believe that, having seen the work we’ve done in the last week, that things will turn around.
“Like I said, we know where we are and where we have to get to. We’re not playing up to standard at the moment, and it’s up to us as players to put that right.”
