Saïd Benrahma is confident West Ham United are prepared for the challenge Greek Super League side Olympiacos will offer in Thursday’s UEFA Europa League match.
The Irons return to European action at London Stadium, having been defeated for a first time in 17 matches in Europe last time out away to the Piraeus-based side.
While the Hammers were on the wrong end of a 2-1 score-line at the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium, Benrahma says the entire squad know what they can do in the big games against continental opposition.
While the Algerian accepts the performance away to Olympiacos was not good enough, he is eager to help the team put that right on Thursday.
Our performance as a group in the away game against Olympiacos was not good for us, but we have faith in our abilities and can be confident about the home game.
“That last game, to be honest, we did not play as well as we should,” Benrahma told whufc.com. “It was not good for us. We didn’t play our usual football and we can do better.
“We need to forget that away game and focus on this game. We know sometimes that games are hard, and our performance as a group in the away game against Olympiacos was not good for us, but we have faith in our abilities and can be confident about the home game.”
The Hammers sit top of Group A with six points from three games played so far, and another win this week will put David Moyes’ side in a strong position to reach the knock-out stages of the competition once again.
Benrahma and his teammates have been putting in the hard work on the training pitches at Rush Green, and the 28-year-old is keen for the team to get things right at London Stadium against their Greek opposition.
“I think we are ready for Thursday,” he continued. “We need to prove that the away game against Olympiacos was a one-off, a mistake. We need to keep doing what we’ve been doing in Europe over the last two or three seasons and come back stronger.
“We need to win this game, I think, and we are confident that we can do that. We need to just bring some positivity and some more energy, and I think a lot of that will come from us a group and some of that will also come from playing at London Stadium in front of our fans. We can look at the game in Greece and say that it was not us at our best, and now we can go about putting that right.”
Central to that success, according to Benrahma, will be the backing of the Claret and Blue Army in east London.
The Irons were met with a raucous atmosphere in the away fixture two weeks ago but the No22 has no doubt the home support at London Stadium can match any noise made across Europe in any other venue.
He added: “The fans will for sure be our twelfth man. When you come into London Stadium, you see how big it is and how passionate our fans are. For an away side, that can be a lot to take in.
“I can remember two years ago in the round of 16 match against Sevilla. The noise that day was amazing. And it has been for every European night we’ve played.
“When those fans are giving us their support and positivity, it pushes us to be even better and gives us more energy. They will help give us the power we need in this game.”
