Ahead of West Ham United’s Premier League tie with Newcastle United, Danny Ings has the Last Word…
April is going to be a very busy period, so of course we are happy to have made a positive start to the month against Southampton. The fixture list is intense though, and with games coming thick and fast, our attention quickly switches to the next one.
When you have games that stack up this way, you just have to focus on the next game, and then the next game. I know that sounds like a cliché but it’s true. You can’t allow yourself to look too far ahead.
If you’re playing on a Saturday and then in midweek, you must not allow yourself to think about that midweek game too early because then your focus is taken away from the next game. The next match is always the most important.
And so, before we can think about Fulham on Saturday or Gent in the UEFA Europa Conference League, we are focused on Newcastle United. They are a team filled with confidence and are carrying a lot of momentum, especially after beating Manchester United at the weekend.
You can see that they are physically strong. I’m sure their running stats are right up at the very top of the Premier League. You mix that in with the talent that they’ve got in their players and that creates a very strong team; one that is going to be very hard to play against. For us, we need to make sure we are really at it against them.
I know Eddie Howe really well from my time at AFC Bournemouth. He gave me my first opportunity as a player [in an EFL Trophy tie at Northampton Town in October 2009, when I was just 17], and I will always be grateful to him for that. Eddie is a very talented manager and he’s an even better person, to be honest. It’s great to see him doing so well up at Newcastle now.
I remember, at the time, that AFC Bournemouth were going through a challenging period in terms of finances. It was a tricky situation for everyone but for him to have faith in me, give me a contract and the opportunity to play, I will sincerely always be grateful for that.
As a man, he was fantastic with me. I went out on loan [to Dorchester Town] when I first signed that contract and I think that was probably the best thing that could have happened to me, because it toughened me up as a player and got me used to men’s football. It was great decision. We’ve gone on different journeys since, and we had a brief spell at Burnley together too, but my personal journey has been fantastic, and I have to say thanks to him for starting that off.
Still, my focus is firmly on getting West Ham over the line on Wednesday night. I know I have come here to score goals and to help the team but every striker loves to have that responsibility and that pressure to be able to go out and deliver. Because when you do deliver, there is no feeling like it.
There is of course other pressure due to the quality of the squad here, but I’m relishing the competition for places. I’ve been used to it at every club I’ve played at, and it’s the same at West Ham. I’ve always said that every club needs that competition between two or three strikers. It’s important to have versatility between different players.
If you look at the attackers we’ve got here, I think we all bring something different to the team. There will be certain moments in different games where a bit of each might be needed, so it’s important we have that in our squad. Having those different attributes in our strikers will help us to push forward as a team and get us back up the table, where we belong.
