West Ham United now have a platform upon which to build, according to Nuno Espirito Santo.
While perhaps not the most convincing of performances, West Ham United squeezed into the FA Cup fourth round by beating Championship side QPR on Sunday.
A winner from new signing Taty Castellanos in extra-time following a 1-1 draw in normal time was enough to seal progress in the world’s oldest cup competition for the first time in three years now.
How much confidence does the win over QPR give you heading into Spurs? 👀
Oh, how sweet it would be to start to turn things around against them 😍
Nuno has been under huge pressure at West Ham and while Sunday’s result is unlikely to change that to any great degree, the Hammers boss believes there’s something with which to work now.
Indeed, Nuno thinks the week ahead will be an awful lot easier for his players ahead of Saturday’s huge game against Tottenham.
Nuno feeling confident ahead of West Ham vs Tottenham
It’s difficult to overstate the importance of Saturday’s derby against Spurs.
There is no love lost between the two sides anyway, and both teams are floundering in the Premier League.
A West Ham win would be a sign that they’re not gone yet and, as an added bonus, it would inflict further misery on their capital counterparts.
Sum up this man’s performance against QPR in three words 👇
Speaking after West Ham’s win over QPR, Nuno expressed his belief that the week ahead for his players to prepare would be much better.
“It’s going to change our week,” he said (via The Independent).
“We’re going to feel better during the week. The players are going to recover better.
“Instead of recovering and bouncing back, I think we can make a step, an improvement. Everything is going to be better this week.”
Nuno’s record against Tottenham since leaving them
Nuno, of course, endured an ill-fated spell in charge of Spurs back in 2021.
His reign lasted only 17 games, in which he won nine, drew one and lost seven. That’s still a better record than he’s amassed at West Ham.
Still, his record against Spurs since he was sacked only four months into his tenure in north London is actually pretty positive.
Nuno managed Nottingham Forest on three occasions against Spurs and won two of them, losing the other.
Oh, how West Ham fans would like to see that positive record continue on Saturday.
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