West Ham United are heading in the right direction after a 1-1 draw with Chelsea, according to skipper Declan Rice.
The Hammers made it five points in their last three Premier League games after an equaliser from Emerson cancelled out João Felix’s opener at London Stadium.
And Rice was pleased the Irons could continue their unbeaten run to four matches with a valiant point against the Blues.
“We have started to show some consistency,” the No41 stated, “It was good character shown to get the goal back. I thought the point was a fair result in the end. I did not think there was much in it.
“When you play against the top sides you always want to go out there and do your best, and I think we did that again.
“We played a really good game against Everton, drew at a tough place to go in Newcastle, and got a point against Chelsea; we are heading in the right direction.”
Making his 223rd senior appearance for the Club, Rice might have seen the Irons take all three points.
The skipper's effort from distance drifted wide in the second half, while he was later judged offside by VAR as a late winner from Tomáš Souček was ruled out.
Rice praised the role of the Czech on and off the ball after Souček replaced Lucas Paquetá inside 20 minutes in east London.
“It is always good to play against Chelsea,” Rice added, “you always want to win the big games, the derbies.
“I have played with Tomáš for so long, so it was really easy to adapt to [Paquetá’s substitution]. You know what you are going to get with me and Tom. We are going to work our socks off and be really solid and hard to play through.
“In the last 20 minutes, it was there for us, and we could have maybe nicked it. But it is a good point and we have been solid since the start of the year, so we need to keep going.”
For Rice, this run is just the start. The Irons need to continue their change in form when they head to Tottenham Hotspur next Sunday – they then conclude February’s action with a home fixture against Nottingham Forest.
“I am sick and tired of looking at the table and seeing where we are,” Rice stated, honestly, “as a player it is horrible. You are constantly worrying about other people’s results, constantly knowing you have to go out there and win; the pressure is on.
“We have been really unlucky with our defensive injuries, but we have adapted well, and we still believe we have enough to push up the table.
“Since we played Brentford in the FA Cup, we have been strong; we need to continue that against Spurs next.”
