James Ward-Prowse admitted that West Ham “underestimated” Bristol City and were punished for it.

After an early opener, it seemed like it could be an exciting afternoon for West Ham. They dominated the first 15 minutes or so of their FA Cup clash with Bristol City. Unfortunately, it seemed like the home-side grew complacent with their 1-0 lead and, in the end, they were lucky to even come away with a replay.

Midfielder James Ward-Prowse was obviously devastated with the Irons performance, but is eager to put things right next time out. “Of course both teams would have preferred to settle it in one, but that’s the way it goes,” he told the official site. “We’re still in the competition and have the chance to go through, but we’re disappointed with the way we played today.”

“I think we started the game really well, penned them in and showed our quality early on, but after that we seemed to drop our standards overall and they deservedly got back in the game.”

“The positive is we still have the chance to go through to the next round and still a chance to win silverware. That’s the main thing and If it takes another game to do it, then so be it. Hopefully it will be worth it in the end.”

The Hammers took the lead in the 6th minute via Jarrod Bowen, as he got on to the end of a beautiful lofted ball from Lucas Paqueta. In the end though, that would be one of their only clear-cut chances of the game.

Some have suggested that scoring so early is what led to West Ham’s downfall, but the No.7 disagrees with this, suggesting that it was their mentality that was the issue. 

“It’s always helpful getting that early goal because it gives you that momentum going forward, but if you underestimate any team you play at any level, you always open yourselves up for the consequences,” he explained.

“It goes to show whether it’s a Premier League team or a team from the Championship playing a good style of football, they can punish you at any moment and they did that today. They outplayed us at times and they are a good footballing team. We showed glimpses of quality, but overall not enough by our standards and how we’ve been this season to win the game. I think a draw was a fair result.”

Unfortunately, the draw means that there will be no Winter break for our Irons. They must make sure they are prepared for the replay at Ashton Gate by learning from the mistakes they made today. Playing away to a team like Bristol will not be easy, and they will be encouraged by what they saw today.

We know that our players have the quality to show up in Bristol and do what they should have done the first time round. It is just a matter of if they are up to the task, or whether they will have put in another uninspired performance.