West Ham’s Adrian demands early Europa League goal to kill off opponents

The West Ham squad arrived at the Mediterranean island yesterday afternoon for the second leg of the second qualifying round tie against Birkirkara FC, which will be held at the country’s Ta’ Qali national stadium.

West Ham have also completed a season-long loan deal for Argentine playmaker Manuel Lanzini from UAE side Al-Jazira Club.

‘The heat is a problem, you can not get used to this, no matter how much you read in the papers, until the moment you land here, ‘ he said at his pre-match press conference on Wednesday.

“I don’t think the game will be as quick was it was the other night because of the heat, but we’re looking forward to it”.

Moncur made 46 appearances for the U’s last season and scored their all-important victor in their dramatic final-day victory over Preston North End, which ultimately helped them avoid relegation.

“We are confident after our excellent display in last week’s first leg”.

“They were enthusiastic, they ran about a lot, but we got the win which was the most important thing and now we’ve got to go out there and try to finish the job”.

But, despite the added strain, Noble insists West Ham are fully committed to their first European venture for nearly a decade.

‘We should be capable of keeping the ball and not go mad in terms of running because the heat is their advantage as they live in those weather conditions.’. But we are experienced enough and we are good enough that with the greatest respect to the Malta team, we are going to be the ones who dictate the tempo of the game.

Adrian has urged his West Ham teammates to grab an early away goal to kill off Birkirkara’s Europa League comeback hopes.

When asked by a fan if West Ham’s business was concluded with the Lanzini signing, Gold replied: “Ideally we need another striker, of course we do have (Diafra) Sakho, (Enner) Valencia, (Andy) Carroll and (Mauro) Zarate”.