Pablo Fornals has returned from a much needed break in Spain with his family, not only to get some rest ahead of a return to the football in East London, but to also visit family who want to meet the new arrival in the Fornals’ family.

“It was a really good break,” said the midfielder. “I went home to see my family and my family-in-law, showing our new baby our homeland and where we are from. We had a really lovely time.

“It was the second time our families got to see our baby and, with having a week away, if I hadn’t take our child back to Spain I think my mother and my mother-in-law would have killed us!”

West Ham are preparing to get back into action with a busy February ahead, starting with an FA Cup tie away to Kidderminster Harriers this Saturday, and Fornals is eager to get back into the thick of it whilst acknowledging that the FA Cup tie certainly won’t be a walk in the park.

“We’ve played a lot of games since the start of the season, but that’s not a bad thing. We’re a great team, and we are playing in Europe, so we have to play many games. But it was a week that we were free of matches, which allowed everyone the chance to go away and reset a bit, which was really nice for us all.

“I’m expecting a difficult game. When you’re in the FA Cup, teams from the lower divisions have the platform to really show how good they are, so it’s not going to be easy at all. We know Kidderminster will be up for this match, so it will be a big game for us.”

It is an exciting period for our Irons as we look to push on in a vital season with so much to play for, with the Spaniard eager to get stuck into a very busy fixture list.

“We’re into another three or four months where we have games every three days. We have the Premier League matches, with Watford on Tuesday and then Leicester City. We have the FA Cup, of course, and then the UEFA Europa League matches are coming up as well.

“It will be a very intensive four months and we want to finish up the league table as high as we can, be in the FA Cup as long as we can and keep progressing in the Europa League too. As a player, that’s what I play for.”