West Ham’s James Ward-Prowse has urged his teammates to push on from the “fantastic platform” they have given themselves this season.

Some doubted Ward-Prowse’s ability when he first signed for West Ham. Apparently, he was only good at set pieces and offered nothing else – how he has proven his critics wrong.

Both on the attack and defensively the former Southampton captain has been sensational for the Hammers. He has played a massive role in their record-breaking first half of the season and he acknowledged the importance of building upon the strong foundations they’ve laid.

“We have to recognise that we’ve been mixing it with the top clubs in the league and run with it,” he told the official site. “Now we’ve given ourselves a fantastic platform to start in the league and we have to build on that and carry that on.”

“Off the back of the success the Club had last year, you could feel the momentum building and I think we’ve only carried that on. You know, it’s important to take stock of where we are and appreciate the achievements that we’ve had. But this is a start of a really good season and hopefully there is more to come.”

His brilliant second half corner against Arsenal earned himself a well deserved goal involvement for his masterful midfield display. It was a game where the whole team had to do their jobs perfectly, and Ward-Prowse is expecting another challenging game against Brighton. 

“It’ll be a really tough test on Tuesday,” he believes. “Obviously, we’ve got good confidence going into that game from Arsenal. So, you know, another good test, but one that we’re going to relish.”

“You know it’s going to be tough going to Arsenal and you got to put in a massive performance. We know if you put in that hard work and that resolute sort of attitude, then you’re going get your chances on the counter attack. And I think we did that on Thursday. Two great goals as well.”

Our Irons have a massive opportunity to cement themselves in sixth place. A win would see them go 5 points above Manchester United and 6 above the Seagulls, but a loss would see the latter leapfrog them on goal difference.

Another “tough test” awaits but, given Brighton’s injury crisis, you can not help but feel like it is ours to lose. If Ward-Prowse and the rest of the squad perform like they can, there is absolutely no reason we will not be celebrating a massive win under the lights tomorrow.