Jack Sullivan is the youngest son of West Ham United Joint-Chairman David Sullivan and is a huge Hammers fan. Jack will be giving his exclusive views to the official website in a regular column...
Hello everyone,
It has been another good week for the Club as we continue on this exciting European adventure and we now look forward to another tough encounter against Romanian side AFC Astra Giurgiu.
I have been away on holiday in Spain but I still made sure that I got to travel to the game in Malta last week with my dad and brother.
I'm sure like all the fans who travelled there, they will say what a nice place Malta is and their stadium was very impressive.
They looked after us so well and we obviously knew that we were going to be playing at the national stadium, but it was amazing to see how passionate the home fans were and that they sold out most of the tickets.
It was a really big match for the people in Malta and how much it meant to everyone.
All the substitutes were trying to get the fans going and there was a real party atmosphere.
Despite going a goal behind early on in the game and then losing James Tomkins to a red card on the stroke of half-time, it was great to see how the players kept battling and it shows the spirit in the squad that we were still able to win the game.
All five penalties were fantastic and it was the same against Everton last season in the FA Cup.
I know the players would have learned a great deal from the opening two rounds and I know Slaven Bilic has been saying that we need to keep our cool and not get wound up by the opposition.
We obviously don't get the same tactics when we play in the Premier League every week, but I'm sure the players will get used to it now and hopefully we will not see any more dismissals.
We are all hoping to get a good advantage from the first leg.
I know all the fans are excited to see our new summer signing Dimitri Payet make his European debut for the Club at the Boleyn Ground.
Payet is a fantastic signing and we have already seen the skills and talent he is going to bring to the first-team this season.
I know he was Slaven's first choice and we are delighted that we were able to clinch his signature.
It shows the ambition we have got as a Club now that we are able to attract these big names to come and play for West Ham United.
There is no doubt that Payet is going to scare opponents and he has settled in extremely fast.
You only have to look at Alexis Sanchez and how quickly he settled into Arsenal last season. Hopefully Payet can do the same.
It is fantastic that we are close to selling out for the Europa League game on Thursday night and it shows once again how amazing our support is.
We have affordable family pricing and the fans are determined to be part of this European journey.
I cannot believe that the new Premier League season gets underway in just over a week's time, but Slaven has worked the players really hard over the last few weeks and I am confident the players are going to be really sharp for the start of pre-season.
This has certainly been a meaningful pre-season with all the competitive games we have had to face and the players have been able to build their fitness up.
I know a lot of fans are asking about the possibility of any more new signings coming into the Club.
I know my dad is continuing to work hard behind the scenes, but we are determined to spend the money wisely and get the best value we can for a player. We still have time to get the right deal.
I look forward to speaking with you all again soon.
Jack
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of West Ham United