West Ham ready for Europa League despite 'compromised' pre-season, says boss Slaven Bilic
Thursday 28 July 2016 09:22, UK
Slaven Bilic is happy with West Ham's preparation for their Europa League season opener on Thursday despite a reduced pre-season.
The Hammers travel to Slovenia for the third qualifying round first leg against NK Domzale more than two weeks ahead of their first Premier League game against Chelsea on August 15, live on Sky Sports.
New signings Sofiane Feghouli and Ashley Fletcher were on target alongside Andy Carroll as West Ham warmed up with a 3-0 win over Karlsruher SC in Austria on Saturday and Bilic is pleased with their build-up.
"We are happy with our preparations," he told West Ham's official website. "We have done everything that we wanted to do, but still we have to make a balance in our preparations to compromise some things because the competitive games don't start on 15 August, they start on Thursday.
"It's not ideal but I'm really pleased with the way we've trained. We are still expecting a few players to come back, those who have been playing in the European Championships.
"If we continue to work hard like this, with dedication and humility, we can expect good things."
West Ham have already been hit by injury setbacks with full-back Aaron Cresswell ruled out for up to four months with a knee ligament injury while playmaker Manuel Lanzini is returning to London after being ruled out of Argentina's squad for the Olympics with a knee problem.
Bilic could hand 17-year-old Reece Oxford a place in the side for Thursday's Europa League clash after the defender joined the club's pre-season camp in Austria following England's exit from the U19 European Championship.
"I made my debut in the Europa League last season, then played two or three more and that helped me go on and play the first game in the Premier League," Oxford said.
"Hopefully I can do the same this summer. It would be good to be part of the squad to play in the first game at the new Stadium next week too."
