West Ham defender Maximillian Kilman believes there were positives to take from last night’s 1-0 defeat to Newcastle.

The Hammers started the game well, with Soucek missing an easy chance from just a few yards out just a minute in. The game was very close for the rest of the ninety minutes, but a controversial goal from Magpies captain, Bruno Guimaraes, was enough to split the teams.

Kiman believes the goal on the hour mark shouldn’t have stood, and therefore, the Hammers deserved at least a point out of the match.

He said: “I don’t think the goal should have been given. I’m an honest player. I was going for the ball and I felt a push in the back.

“It was a strong push. Even if I was pushed and I felt like I would have won it, I would have won it. But he pushed me with two hands in the back, and I couldn’t keep my balance.

“I think the foul on Jarrod, soon after their goal, was a penalty as well. I’ve just looked back at it and it looked like a penalty.

“But that’s football, and there are fine margins. It was a tight game, with not a lot between us, but they scored with one of their opportunities and we didn’t take our chances. We just need to make sure we don’t lose our heads and move on to the next game now, focusing on the good things that we’re doing.”

Hammers fans were excited about this match after winning two matches on the bounce against Arsenal and Leicester, keeping two clean sheets. Potter opted for the same starting 11 as both those matches, and again, it highlighted how strong the defence has been under Potter, but also how poor the attack is.

As a defender, Kilman was proud of how is team performed on Monday and how they are slowly improving under the former Brighton manager.

Kilman added: “Ultimately we’ve not been good enough tonight, but I do think we look a lot more solid now, and that starts from the front.

“I think everyone is more tied into defending together and attacking together. Things look promising, and we just have to keep building because we’ve got more big games coming up.

“We’ve still got ten games to go, which is a lot, and we can still push on. We’ve got 30 points to play for, so we need to give our best and finish as high up the table as possible.”