Angelo Ogbonna stressed the importance of remaining positive after West Ham United slipped to a 1-0 defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday afternoon.
Daniel Podence’s strike three minutes after half-time settled a closely-fought affair at Molineux, with West Ham unable to find the crucial goal in response, despite their best efforts.
Ogbonna believes that the team’s endeavours perhaps deserved more in the Midlands and knows the team needs to stick together to ensure they dig themselves out of a situation they did not expect to be in at the midpoint of the season.
“It a tough one,” he admitted. “It was a tight game. We conceded a goal from a counter-attack but we don’t need to be negative.
“It’s a hard time. We know that. It’s a transition, so we need to stick with it. We need the fans, the next game is going to be massive and we need the fans whatever the result.
“We have 19 games to go, so we need to be positive here.”
The Hammers gave plenty of effort at Molineux and had an opportunity for a late leveller when Gianluca Scamacca nodded wide from a Declan Rice cross.
It is on those fine margins that games are decided and Ogbonna knows full well that his team need to fall on the right side of them swiftly.
“Sometimes you need a little bit of luck. It seemed as though the ball didn’t want to go in – they played well but it was a tight game and we showed the fight,” he continued.
“We were a little bit unlucky, we had the header from Gianluca, and there were shots from Mick, Vlad had one in the first half. It’s hard to take and everyone is disappointed."
The Hammers return home for their first game at London Stadium of 2023 next weekend, when Everton are the visitors, and Ogbonna has vowed they will be giving their all for a brighter second half of the season.
“We need to take it game-by-game,” he added. “It’s the only way, to focus on the next game wherever it is. All the players want the best for this Club.
“At this moment we don’t have a lot of luck – we have shown we can improve in the last three games and we stepped on the pitch today to get something more. It didn’t go that way, but maybe the next one will.
“It’s very important. From now on every game is important, for us, for all the players. It’s important to understand the situation – it’s a hard situation, but we’ve passed through hard times before at West Ham.”
