‘We deserved something’ – West Ham manager lauds ‘committed’ display despite defeat

West Ham United manager Graham Potter has lauded his side’s commitment despite their disappointing 1-0 defeat against Newcastle United last night.

The Hammers had enjoyed a brief resurgence in recent weeks and came into this fixture following consecutive wins against Arsenal and Leicester City.

However, they failed to build on that momentum, falling to a narrow defeat in a closely fought contest against the Magpies.

West Ham came close to an early breakthrough, but Tomas Soucek skied his effort over the crossbar from close range merely 50 seconds into the contest.

Newcastle gradually settled into the contest, and Alphonse Areola produced two smart saves to deny Harvey Barnes. He made another exceptional stop to prevent Max Kilman from netting an own goal.

Despite Areola’s heroics, he was powerless to stop a Bruno Guimaraes volley, which proved to be the difference between the two sides.

Potter’s side did their best to orchestrate a comeback but struggled to create any worthwhile chances. Newcastle saw out a crucial win that put them back in the top-four race.

“I thought it was a committed performance from us,” Potter told BBC. “Disappointed with the goal – it looks like two hands in the back of our centre-back.

“We had some moments, not enough to win it, but we were committed enough to get enough from the game.”

“The attitude and effort was there in a really tight game against a very physical and intense team. We fell short in terms of our objective.

“We didn’t deserve to win the game, but we deserved something from the game.”

The Hammers have nothing left to fight for this season, but Potter will be keen to end the campaign on a high.