West Ham United skipper Mark Noble was delighted with the resilience his side showed at Aston Villa on Monday night.
The Hammers secured a 0-0 draw in the Midlands, despite having to play the final quarter of the contest with ten men after Arthur Masuaku was sent off.
Noble felt the way they responded to that blow was testament to the team’s character, as they held firm in front of an expectant home side and went on to create openings of their own on the break.
Ultimately, the captain was happy with the point, but it was that performance with a man light which pleased him the most.
He explained: “In the end it was a really good point, but I liked the way we played with ten men. We didn’t sit back, we kept going, kept trying to score and had a couple of half chances.
“But I am pleased with the point. It’s a tough place to come to, they’re a good aide with some good players so all in all I’m happy.
“It was tough at the end, but coming off the back of the international break we trained hard, we know our shape well and to keep another clean sheet - two in a row - is good from us. Eight points is a really good start.
“Obviously we wanted to win the game tonight, but you have to give respect to the opposition, they played well too.
“These are the teams we really struggled against last year, We went away to teams like Cardiff and lost, but tonight we looked like a proper team with the way we played, the way we passed it, and we looked dangerous at times.
“I think it was a pretty entertaining game even though it was 0-0 and the way we played with ten men for 25 minutes was pretty impressive.”
