Aaron Cresswell says it is the job of he and his West Ham United teammates to silence the City Ground crowd with their performance at Nottingham Forest on Sunday afternoon.
The Forest fans will make for a superb atmosphere as their team return to the Premier League after a 24-year absence with the visit of the Hammers, while the Claret and Blue Army will also play their full part in a capacity 30,000 crowd.
But Cresswell, who played at the two-time European champions’ home stadium three times in the Championship with previous club Ipswich Town between 2011-14, believes the Irons can quieten the home crowd if they make a strong start and play to their strengths.
“I've played there in the Championship years ago, about ten years ago, but I remember it being a special ground with a lot of history, and for them to be out the Premier League for 24 years, I'm sure it's going to be one of the toughest places to go again this season,” he told whufc.com.
“But this is the Premier League and that's what we're up against. I'm sure the atmosphere is going to be really, really loud and really high, but it's up to us to control that as well.”
Forest, like West Ham, made a losing start to the 2022/23 campaign, going down 2-0 at Newcastle United on the opening weekend, while David Moyes’ side lost by the same margin to champions Manchester City at London Stadium.
Steve Cooper has made eleven new signings to strengthen his newly promoted squad, including former West Ham loanee Jesse Lingard, but Cresswell says the Londoners have to focus on their own jobs and exploiting any weaknesses in Forest, rather than worry about their opponents.
“They’ve made a lot of changes to adapt to the Premier League and obviously Jesse is there and it'll be nice to see Jesse, but our main focus is to go there and get a win,” he confirmed.
Cresswell had warm words for Lingard, who he will likely face at the City Ground a years after sharing a dressing room with his fellow England international, who scored nine goals in 13 appearances in Claret and Blue between February and May 2021.
The defender was quick to dismiss any criticism of the attacker and knows he and his teammates will need to be at their best to slow the former Manchester United player.
“Jesse was unbelievable when he was at our place,” the No3 recalled. “He came in hit and the ground running. I remember him saying, how difficult it was at times at [Manchester] United and how the togetherness was nowhere near what we've got here. We created a great atmosphere and he walked straight in and from day one he was bouncing about and felt at home.
“Sometimes when you hear things about him, and you listen to this stuff that people are saying about him, he's not that type of guy. He's genuinely down to earth guy and really humble. A lot of social media stuff, that's what people criticise him for, but I think you’ve got to judge him for being on a pitch and I can only say good things about him because at the time he was here he was arguably our best player for six months.”
