Baggies skipper eyes December full of cheer
ALBION captain Chris Brunt sat down in front of the cameras as part of the pre-match media briefing ahead of tonight’s encounter against West Ham at The Hawthorns (8pm ko)
The long-serving Baggies midfielder looked back on Saturday’s defeat to Arsenal, the determination to turn around Albion’s home form against the Hammers and the importance of a positive festive period.
Here’s what he had to say.
Brunt on Arsenal…
“Obviously the result, and it all boils down to that, wasn’t what we were looking for, especially in a home game as we haven’t been doing very well at The Hawthorns this year.
“We were trying to get back on track and for a lot of the game there wasn’t too much in it. I think the tale of the game was that we hit the crossbar with a header at the end and Arsenal scored their chance.
“There weren’t an awful lot of chances, their ‘keeper didn’t have a lot to do and neither did Ben Foster. It was a pretty even contest and maybe that little bit of quality they had in the final third paid off for them.
“We were disappointed but the game on Tuesday night comes around quickly.”
Brunt on pressure after three successive defeats…
“That’s the nature of the game, really, and obviously the media around the Premier League as well. Everything is made one hundred times bigger than what it probably is for us.
“It’s no different for us, it’s another game.”
Brunt on rectifying Albion’s home form against the Hammers…
“It’s at home where I said we haven’t been playing very well and not put in as many performances as we would have liked.
“It’s a chance for us to get back on track and hopefully we can do that.
“I’m sure the gaffer has been doing his homework on West Ham and we’ll go out there with a positive attitude to try and win the game.
“Hopefully the fans will get behind us right from the go and we can get over the line.
“It’s not nice for anybody going to the game, especially our home games, and not being able to get anything out of them.
“Obviously the fans are frustrated, we’re frustrated, and I think you look at yourself - you’re frustrated with yourself. I think football players are the worst for that, you take a lot of criticism out on yourself more than anything else.”
Brunt on the importance of December…
“It’s an important month for us and we’ve got games against teams who are around us in the table at the minute.
“A sticky Christmas patch can mean for a long new year as well, we've seen that before in the past and that’s something we’re looking to avoid.
“It’s down to us in the next few games to go out there and get the points on the board and look up the table rather than over our shoulders, as we did for most of last season.”