‘Angry’ West Ham looking to bounce back, says Bilic

REUTERS – West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic says his players are “angry” after their 4-1 Premier League loss to Tottenham Hotspur last weekend and will be looking to make amends when they host West Bromwich Albion on Sunday.

The Hammers, who are sixth in the table, have gone three league games without a win after starting the season in sparkling form.

“The players, like the whole staff, were hugely disappointed after the game on Sunday and angry with the way we played,” Bilic told reporters on Friday.

“It was only us who was to blame, and we knew that straight after the game. We will do everything we can to bounce back on Sunday.”

Bilic also revealed that Alex Song and Pedro Obiang are in contention to replace suspended skipper Mark Noble for Sunday’s encounter.

“Probably one of them will play because we are without our captain Mark Noble,” the former Croatia manager said.

West Brom manager Tony Pulis says he has some injury concerns after their 2-1 win over Arsenal in the league last week. He declined to say which players, though.

“We have picked up a few injuries following the Arsenal game. Hopefully those players will be fine for West Ham,” Pulis told reporters.

“We’ve been very careful with those players. Most of the week we’ve kept them out of the fray and make sure they’re fit for Sunday.”

The Baggies have picked up 10 points from their last six games on the road and Pulis says he is pleased with his side’s away form but expects a tough encounter away to West Ham despite contrasting results last weekend.

“Our away form has been really good this season. Hopefully we can get another positive result on the road on Sunday. West Ham have made a brilliant start to the season. They have good quality out wide and it will be a very tough game for us,” the former Stoke City manager said.

(Reporting by Shravanth Vijayakumar in Bengaluru. Editing by Patrick Johnston)