Former West Ham captain Kevin Nolan feels that Middlesbrough will be coming to east London this weekend confident of getting a result against the Hammers.
Slaven Bilic’s side have made an awful start to their campaign, losing four of their opening five league games, and are currently residing in 18th in the Premier League table.
West Ham have been struggling to come to terms with playing at their new home ground, the London Stadium, and have looked shaky and nervous in front of their home fans, who are some distance from the pitch, due to the covered up running track.
And Nolan feels while the game against Middlesbrough might have looked a straightforward win at the start of the season, it is no longer the same as Boro should be confident of beating the Hammers at the London Stadium.
The former Hammer wrote in his column for the club’s official website: “The Middlesbrough game this weekend has a certain type of pressure attached to it.
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“At the start of the season, it would have been one that West Ham would have targeted three points from, and that is still the case, but they will come to London believing they can turn us over.
“They’ve got some good players, like Stewie Downing who we all know well from his time here, and it will be a tough game, as they all are in the Premier League.”
Nolan admits that teams are getting more and more confident about beating West Ham at home, but is hoping the Hammers get their season back on track on Saturday.
“The London Stadium is inspiring visiting clubs, whose players will remember it from the London 2012 Olympic Games, but West Ham need to see this game as an opportunity to win and kick-start their season.
“I certainly hope the lads can do just that.”
