West Ham United goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski believes the busy spell of Premier League games ahead merits a measured approach.
The experienced shot-stopper will hope to play a significant role in maintaining the Irons’ latest unbeaten run, with four top-flight games – as well as an FA Cup fourth-round tie with Doncaster Rovers – over the next two weeks to come.
Looking ahead to this weekend’s match at home to Burnley, with three consecutive clean sheets in all competitions and their last Premier League outing a 1-0 win away at Everton, the 35-year-old believes the unorthodox 2020/21 fixture list demands steady progress.
“I think it’s very important to take it game-by-game,” Fabianski, who could return to action on Saturday after sitting out the Hammers' last two matches, told West Ham TV.
“This season is different because you get spells when the number of games is sometimes more, then you get a good period of kind of a break.
“Then, a big number of games is coming up again, so you have to be very smart about how you prepare for that. Just keeping everyone fit and ready is very important.
“I think we are in a very good position. This season the league has been a very interesting one because there’s a big number of teams that are more or less on the same level when it comes to the points tally, so we just want to keep pushing, keep working hard, keep competing and see what’s going to happen.
“Taking it game-by game I think is the best way to approach that.”
Fabianski will be hoping to be fit enough to return to David Moyes’ side when the Irons take on Burnley at London Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The Poland international was a late withdrawal at Goodison Park on New Year’s Day, having initially been included in the starting eleven before being replaced by Darren Randolph in the warm-up.
Fabianski has revealed that the move was precautionary, rather than reactionary, and was pleased to see his fellow goalkeeper come into the side to play such a crucial role in the 1-0 victory on Merseyside.
“I pulled out because I felt something in the muscle that I have torn before,” he explained.
“I think it was very sensitive and sensible not to take any chances or take any risks, especially because we’d played a lot of games in a short space of time. I think that, in a way, you always have to look at the bigger picture and I think it’s better sometimes to miss one game than potentially a longer period of time.
“At the same time, I was very pleased for Darren. Every single day he’s pushing us other keepers to be at our best, and I was so happy for him that he could come in and play really well.
“He was very, very confident and made some important saves for us, so I was very pleased for him.”
