West Ham midfielder James Ward-Prowse says the players are to blame for Saturdays loss to Brentford.

Our Hammers’ trip to west London ended in defeat this past Saturday, as Brentford turned around a 2-1 deficit. It was Neil Maupay that opened the scoring for the Bees after just eleven minutes, but quick responses from Mohammed Kudus and Jarrod Bowen helped the Hammers lead at half-time. However, a Konstantinos Mavropanos own goal and Nathan Collins header put Brentford ahead and won them 3 points against Moyes’ side.

James Ward-Prowse, who captained the side for the first time after joining the club in August, acknowledged that the side were made to pay for their mistakes. He told West Ham TV;

‘It’s a hard one to take. It was a disappointing game all round. I think we started the game quite slowly and we conceded quite a sloppy goal. We got back into it with two really well taken goals and, when you’re in that position, it’s about seeing the game out.

‘We caused the defeat ourselves. We’ve not suffered from their brilliance – we’ve made the mistakes and been punished.’

Ward-Prowse started the league season in fine form, contributing to five goals in his opening four games. However, his productivity has waned since then. A reason behind this perhaps is due to a change of position and role. In the earlier stages of the season, the midfielder found himself in more attacking positions and generally, further up the field.

Playing slightly ahead of Edson Alvarez and Tomas Soucek allowed Ward-Prowse to travel around the 18-yard box, though in recent matches, has been playing much deeper, which has naturally limited his attacking contributions. The midfielder saw a return to his natural position on Saturday despite the absence of Edson Alvarez, as Michail Antonio and Jarrod Bowen led the line together, perhaps in an attempt to reignite his attacking prowess.

The Hammers play their fourth group stage match in the Europa League next week, playing their reverse fixture against Olympiacos. Olympiacos ended West Ham’s 17-match unbeaten streak in Europe with a 2-1 win in late October. A late volley from Lucas Paqueta proved to be merely a consolation after the Greek side scored two in the first half. David Moyes’ side will undoubtedly aim to rectify their previous loss and secure a big win ahead of this European clash.

By Joe Murray