West Ham defender Issa Diop has warned his side they cannot afford to slip up in a derby clash against Fulham at the London Stadium.

The Hammers have won five of their 13 home league games this season, losing an equal amount, while drawing the other three.




And now they prepare to take on relegation battlers Fulham in a game at the same venue on Friday, with the summer signing insists that they do not have the option to falter against Claudio Ranieri's side.

The last time the two sides faced each other in December, Manuel Pellegrini's team beat Fulham 2-0 at Craven Cottage, and Diop will look for a repeat of the same performance.
 


“We play against Fulham, a London team, and we’re at home, so we know we need to win and we cannot falter”, Diop told his club's official website.

Through his time in France, Diop knows a number of Fulham's players, such as midfielders Jean-Michael Seri, Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa and defender Maxime Le Marchand – all of whom the 22-year-old insists are good players, but the need is to get the double over the visitors.
 

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“I know some of their players because I played a lot of times against them in Ligue 1.

"They are all very good players, but I hope we can win this game.”

West Ham are currently placed tenth in the league table with 33 points from 26 games.