West Ham - Everton Preview: Bilic hoping for polished performance against former club

After succumbing to their first Away defeat of the season and ending their fine seven-game unbeaten run, West Ham will need to recuperate quickly - as they host an Everton side who will be brimming with confidence having recently taken Sunderland to pieces in their last game.

West Ham have consequently moved down to 6th place whilst Everton have managed to climb up to 9th with their crushing of Sunderland, with the two teams only separated by four points. Considering that Everton had seemingly started slowly, and West Ham much the opposite, it's interesting to see the clubs are not separated by much in the way of points. You'd have to imagine this is more a positive for Everton considering West Ham's start to the season.

Slaven Bilic will be keen to make sure his players go out and perform this weekend and the players will undoubtedly want to make amends and forget the poor showing. Roberto Martinez on the other hand shouldn't have too much trouble in that regards, his side should be in high spirits and confidence considering the attacking performance in their last game, but, the defence will still worry him somewhat coming into this game.

What the managers said:

Slaven Bilic

On the previous game, "We lost at Watford, but we know why we lost and we can learn from that and make sure it doesn’t happen again"

On managing one former club of his against his other former club; "Every game is special for different reasons. Everton are a great side, big club with good players. It’s a great test for us and I am looking forward to it, definitely yes."

Roberto Martinez

Martinez was quick to praise Bilic, and what he has done for West Ham since joining them, noting the style of football and psychologically, "...to go to places like Manchester City, Arsenal and Chelsea and win shows they have a fantastic mentality.”

On his sides need to be better defensively, he countered, "we will never go out with the intention of keeping a clean sheet in the hope of winning a game because we want to try to find a way to score goals and be a good team to watch.”

What the players said:

Carl Jenkinson was quick to reiterate the need to get back on track with this game; "It is important we get over the Watford defeat quickly and focus on Everton because that will be an important game for us. We want to go into the international break with a smile on our face."

He also touched on the confidence and belief within the squad this term; "There are no easy fixtures any more but if we can play to the best of our ability we can beat anyone and that is the attitude we need to have going into the game on Saturday."

Brendan Galloway talked of the quality through West Ham's side right now; “They’ve been doing really well. Some of the players they have brought in have added a bit of an extra threat, especially [Dimitri] Payet."

Although he praised the way the Hammer's have been playing, he was quick to state, "I think we can go there and get the three points.”

Team news:

West Ham will be without Senegalese striker Diafra Sakho for the second consecutive week due to a small tear within his thigh. Alex Song has trained with the first team all week, but is unlikely to feature.

Winston Reid should return for the suspended James Collins, but with Angelo Ogbonna also fully fit - it could mean James Tomkins' place could be under threat too. Enner Valencia is working his way towards full match fitness, and, will be the main contender to try and sneak in on Andy Carroll's starting place in the XI.

Everton will be without a lengthy list made up of; Bryan Oviedo, Leighton Baines, Phil Jagielka, Steven Pienaar, Tony Hibbert, Mo Besic and Tom Cleverly.