James Ward-Prowse is confident West Ham United’s recent surge of Premier League form can help power them to a positive result in the first leg of their UEFA Europa League round of 16 clash at SC Freiburg.
The Hammers are set to be reunited with the Bundesliga outfit at the Stadion am Wolfswinkel on Thursday night, having seen them off home and away in the group stage of the competition earlier this season.
A strong run at home and abroad in the run up to Christmas preceded a six-game winless streak at the turn of 2024, but back-to-back victories over Brentford and Everton on their last two outings have provided the Irons with vital winning momentum ahead of their trip to south-west Germany.
“We’re all looking forward to getting stuck back into European competition,” Ward-Prowse said. “It’s another good challenge for us, and I think we’re all going into it feeling good.
“We’ve picked up two really good results in our last two games, and most of the squad are fit and on form now, so we have to be confident we can keep that run going and take a good result back to London Stadium.
“It’s certainly not going to be an easy ride, though. It’s probably going to be tougher than when we’ve played them before, because they know a bit more about us now, and they’ll have extra motivation going into the tie.
“They’re going to be hard working, and they press very well, so they’re things we’re going to have to counteract, but we have to stay focused on what we can control and do our best to show our qualities.”
One difference from the Irons’ October 2023 visit to Freiburg will be the presence of away fans this time around, following their exclusion at the group-stage game, and Ward-Prowse believes they could provide the edge needed to get the team over the line.
And, having notched four assists in his six Europa League appearances so far this season, the 29-year-old is hopeful of adding more goal involvements to his tally in the upcoming tie.
He added: “It’s definitely going to be a good atmosphere over there. It was loud without our supporters last time, so with the 2,000 or so that have got tickets it’s going to be great.
“They’ll be supporting us in their numbers like they always do, and that always gives us a boost.
“From my perspective, the most important thing is that the team is getting the right results, but it is always nice to contribute. I feel I’ve contributed well in certain areas, but there are still plenty of games to come and hopefully I can grab plenty more goals and assists going forward.”
