Saturday 18 March 2017 19:10, UK
Slaven Bilic says there are "no excuses" for the way West Ham started against Leicester as they lost 3-2 in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon.
Riyad Mahrez and Robert Huth scored within two minutes of each other in the opening exchanges to put the visitors in the driving seat, before Manuel Lanzini pulled a goal back for the Hammers.
But Jamie Vardy restored the two-goal cushion before the break and despite another strike from Andre Ayew with plenty of pressure from West Ham in the final half an hour, they were unable to take a point from the encounter.
While Bilic was disappointed with the manner in which the goals were conceded, he did see good things during the improved second-half performance.
"We are very disappointed, we fought back and we can talk about a lot of positives, especially from the second half," he told Sky Sports.
"You can talk about great character, great combinations and we had more than enough chances to turn the game around, not only to equalise, but at the end, there are no excuses for the start of the game.
"We conceded really sloppy goals from our part and when we came back, to concede another from a set-piece, it is very hard psychologically to come back into the game.
"We shouldn't be two or three down in the first ten minutes. We knew before the game and it is no secret that they are really good on set-pieces but we are also good at them and we have enough tall players to cope with that. In this league, you cannot afford to concede two goals in the first six or eight minutes.
"In the second half, we played really well. Maybe the last half an hour was one of our best performances this season and we did everything but the ball just didn't want to go in. During a couple of moments, they have Kasper Schmeichel who is in great form anyway. That save at the end from Andy Carroll was a fantastic save."
It was a third successive defeat in the Premier League for the Hammers who remain in 11th place on 33 points, but Bilic is hoping the upcoming international break can help them reflect on their season.
"We can now [take stock of the season]. Our last three results were not bad because of the previous results before these three, we are still in an OK position," he added.
"It is good to have a break now to come together and rest a bit, to train hard and be ready for the remainder of the season."
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