West Ham United full-back, Sam Byram has said that the Hammers will go into the match with AFC Bournemouth full of confidence, despite disappointing results in the past week.
Getting points on the board
The former Leeds United youngster has become a far more prominent face in Slaven Bilic's squad, after the long-term lay-off of Aaron Cresswell, and has been part of the side that have had indifferent start to the campaign.
A late goal from Diego Costa denied the Hammers a point in their 2-1 defeat to Chelsea, and another late goal from Denis Alibec saw them draw 1-1 with Astra Giugriu in their Europa League qualifier on Thursday.
All eyes will turn to Sunday's contest, with Eddie Howe's been the first league opponents to visit their new home at the London Stadium, and the 22-year-old has said that the side are full of confidence ahead of the match.
"Bournemouth on Sunday will be a very different game from the one last night against Astra which wasn’t the best of games,” Byram told the club's official website, and admitted: “We are looking forward to playing back at home and we will be doing everything to pick up the three points in our second league game of the season."
Byram continued: “We just lost out to Chelsea on Monday and so we are determined to get the ball rolling and get some points on the board." He was adamant that, “The team is relaxed and we have got a good squad, so we will go into the game with confidence and we will get the win we deserve.”
Taking away the positives
The Hammers will face off with their Romanian opponents just four days after their contest with the Cherries, as they look to secure a place in this year's Europa League group stages.
Captain Mark Noble gave his side the crucial away goal from the penalty before the break, which was canceled out by Ailbec, but Byram has said the squad have taken the positives out of their performance.
Byram admitted to whufc.com: "We are disappointed to give away a goal so late on, but we still have the home tie next Thursday at London Stadium and we will take the positives that there were from our performance in Romania.”
West Ham United will take on AFC Bournemouth at the London Stadium on Sunday, August 21 with kick-off at 4pm BST.