West Ham United forward Felipe Anderson believes that maintaining collective concentration will be vital when his side take on Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday.
The Hammers welcome Spurs – and all the attention surrounding their new manager Jose Mourinho – to London Stadium for an enticing London derby against the Club's biggest Premier League rivals.
Both teams head into the fixture looking to address difficult runs of recent results, with West Ham looking for their first win in seven Premier League games and Tottenham without an away league win since January.
Nevertheless Felipe Anderson, who scored against Mourinho’s Manchester United side the last time the Portuguese manager came to east London, believes he and his teammates are all keen to play their part against Spurs and will be raring to go when kick-off comes around.
“It’s a game that everyone wants to play in, against our rivals Tottenham,” he said. “Derbies are always important games for our fans.
“For us at the moment, focus is the main thing. We’re going to go for the win. We know how important it is to get wins in the Premier League.
“Obviously when you lose, players can lose confidence, but we have a lot of experience and we’re going to do everything we can to win our next games.”
Everyone is well prepared for the Tottenham game, and we are very focused on winning the game
Felipe Anderson
Felipe Anderson believes that the arrival of Mourinho will have an impact on the mentality of the opposition squad on Saturday, with his new charges likely to be keen to impress.
But the Brazilian winger is confident his side’s preparation on the training ground this week, and over the course of the international break, will pay dividends when the two teams emerge from the tunnel.
“We are well prepared to play against Tottenham,” he said. “Obviously Mourinho’s going to come wanting to win, and all the players will be wanting to impress the coach with a renewed attitude on the field to win a place, but we’re going to try our best to win.
"Everyone is well prepared for the Tottenham game, and we are very focused on winning the game.”
