West Ham striker Niclas Füllkrug believes the squads pre-season work is really starting to pay off after a 2-1 win over Everton.

The Hammers went 1-0 down as Idrissa Gana Gueye put David Moyes’ side into the lead, before goals from Lucas Paqueta and man of the match Niclas Füllkrug, who spoke to the media after the match.

“Right now the vibe in the group is so good,” our No11 said to the clubs Official Website. “There’s a lot of love in the air – we like each so much and we spend so much time with each other.

“The coach (Graham Potter) works with us not only on the pitch, but also to be a better group, to be a team and to be a family. We’re all enjoying our time together – in London, in Germany and now here in the US – and we’re starting to see the impact of what we’ve been doing.

“On the pitch, I think we’ve improved a lot. We still have work to do and not everything will be perfect right now, so we have to be patient. But I think we’re seeing what we’ve been working on all coming together.

The 32-year-old has done a few interviews so far this summer, and every time, rather than talking about himself, he has preferred to talk about the team and what they can achieve together. He continued to do that when he was asked about his goal, which was an excellent finish.

“For my goal, it felt good of course, but the most important thing in that moment for me was not the goal. It was more about how we all went to the second ball. We had three players close to the second ball – even if it was not an easy one, everyone was fighting for it and trying to win it back. I think that reaction showed a lot, and then obviously I was happy to put it in the net.”

Füllkrug had a challenging first season in Claret and Blue missing over 20 matches with injury. But he looks a lot fitter and raring to go at the moment, and we hope he can keep that going into the games against Bournemouth in Atlanta and Lille at the London Stadium next weekend, ahead of the new Premier League campaign.