“Stick with us” is the cry from West Ham’s Maximillian Kilman ahead of the crucial clash against his former team Wolverhampton Wanderers this evening, a match that has been labelled ‘El Sackico’ online. 

Hammers fans have been thoroughly impressed with Kilman since his £40m switch from Wolves this summer despite the Hammers’ defensive woes. In between some horror defensive performances from the team, Kilman has shown his strengths both defensively and in-possession.

The 27-year-old said: “Obviously it’s been inconsistent,” he reflected. “You know, we’ve had a good performance in there, and obviously two performances where we know we should be doing much better, so that’s probably been a reflection on the season. We’ve not had a run of good form, but we have shown glimpses of some really good performances, and we definitely need to improve as a team and make sure that we are more consistent.

“We’ve got a very good group of players. We’re all together in this and we want to come out on the good side of it, so we’re definitely working really hard and hopefully things will turn.

“This is a game I’ve been looking forward to as obviously I’d been [at Wolves] for such a long time, and they also gave me the opportunity to come to West Ham. So, of course I’m grateful for some good memories there but now, obviously, I’m with West Ham, I need to do my best for West Ham, and that’s what I’m looking to do.”

Julen Lopetegui will also be facing his old club and a defeat would most likely seal his fate as his job as West Ham manager hangs in the balance.

Kilman continued: “He (Lopetegui) has told us just to ‘give your best every single day’. We’ve got big games coming up, so make sure, you know we have, we give 100% as we always do and things will turn.

“We know the manager is under pressure but we’re also under a lot of pressure and we want to perform and we want to get good results. We’re West Ham and we need to be performing and getting good results because that’s the level the Club wants to be at. We need to get our heads down and make sure we do that because Monday is another big opportunity to get it right and hopefully, from there, we can push on.

“We’ve got a group of very experienced players and we’ve got a lot of leaders in the team, so I think everyone has had their say. In moments when things are going tough, you need everyone to stick together and show that leadership. We have a big group of players who can do that, so we just need to carry on improving as a team and hopefully, as I said, things will change.”

Both Kilman and Bowen, two of the biggest leaders in the squad have vocally backed the manager in recent weeks, however, unless something drastic changes tonight their words won’t mean much at as he will most likely be out of a job.

Lopetegui was desperate to work with Kilman again at West Ham and the London-born defender clearly wants to repay the Spaniard for being one of the biggest reasons behind his dream move. He said: “My message to the fans is just to stick with us, as we all want to give as much as we can, and we’re trying our best and we’re going to do everything we can to change this and for sure we will come out on the brighter side of it.

“All players were fans before as kids so we can all feel it and we all want to do well, and I think that’s the same message from the whole Football Club, that we want to get back to where we should be.”