West Ham United defender James Collins says that Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Sunderland felt "more like a loss" for the Hammers.

Point is a point

Slaven Bilić’s men headed to the North East full of confidence having returned to winning ways the previous weekend against Swansea City, especially against a Sunderland side who hadn’t scored in their previous seven league matches.

The Hammers couldn’t have asked for a more perfect start with André Ayew’s opener early on, but an excellent effort from Wahbi Khazri midway through the first period saw things level at the break.

Collins got himself on the scoresheet just after the restart, but it was Fabio Borini’s late effort that shared the points at the Stadium of Light. The draw left the Hammers three points away from the coveted ’40-point mark’, and Collins admitted though disappointed by the result the point would prove vital.

"We’re disappointed," Collins admitted to whufc.com. "To concede a late goal is always disappointing."

"I thought we were reasonably comfortable after we scored the second goal," he conceded to the club’s website. "It feels more like a loss after that late goal. But a point’s a point."

The 33-year-old added: "I’ve just said, we’re looking up. We know we have the squad and the team to move up the league and finish as high as we can. We’re going to have to put today behind us."

Big game ahead

The North London club will need to dust themselves off once again as they will look to secure consecutive victories at the London Stadium on Saturday with the visit of an in-form Everton side.

It will prove to be a tough test as Ronald Koeman’s men are currently at the height of their powers, with just one defeat in their last six with a late Champions League charge still a hope for the Toffees.

"We need to prepare," Ayew said in reference to Saturday’s clash. "Hopefully the fans will be there in their numbers for Everton at home and hopefully we give them something to cheer as well."

"Everton are a big team with big players," the club-record signing stated. "It’s a big game and we need to points. We saw the atmosphere in the last game against Swansea and we need the same again. We will give it our best."

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About the author
Danial  Kennedy
Award-winning sports journalism graduate. Currently studying a PR Masters at the University of Sunderland. Writing for VAVEL since August 2014. Twitter - @ddkjournalism.