West Ham edged closer to the Championship leaders with a 1-0 win at Swansea on Saturday.
West Ham won 1-0 at Swansea City on Saturday, but the Welsh club’s manager Vitor Matos believes his side’s promotion chances remain very much alive despite the defeat. The Swans remain top of the table with a point clear of the Hammers and the 38-year-old boss has warned his rivals not to underestimate them.
Matos, who spent time in Liverpool’s coaching staff, also described West Ham as one of the best teams in the second tier. Nuno Espirito Santo’s side remain the top scorers in the Championship, but with just eight goals conceded in 11 games, Swansea have the best defense in the league.
Ilahi Mukasa scored the only goal of the game at the Liberty Stadium after creating space following Mohamadou Kante’s fine run. Both teams had chances at 1-0, but the visitors didn’t need a cushion.
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West Ham entered the season as one of the favorites for promotion, while Swansea are more of a surprise package. However, Matos suggested the style of defeat and the disappointment that he could not salvage a point says a lot about his team.
“I think it’s important when the game is over that we all feel we can take something out of the game,” said the Portuguese. “We played against a really good opponent, one of the main contenders to go to the Premier League, and we felt we could compete and beat them too.
“That disappointment is something that needs to stay, but more than anything it should give us the fuel to push ourselves in training, improve our standards and keep improving ourselves. We can compete with anyone.”
“From what I saw today, I think we can compete against any team and that’s what we have to do. We have to keep pushing ourselves that way. We have to keep pushing ourselves to beat the best teams in the league.
“West Ham are one of the best teams. We tried but unfortunately we couldn’t get something out of the game and that’s the story.”
After almost a quarter of the season, just three points separate the top five teams in the Championship. West Ham and Middlesbrough are just one point behind Swansea, while Birmingham City and West Bromwich Albion are two points behind.
“It’s very, very demanding of the players. But the reaction has been good,” West Ham boss Nuno said when discussing the brutal Championship schedule. “I think we did a good job of getting the guys back, giving them time to be fully energized for this game.
“So a lot of those who played 90 minutes are doing it again and they’re at a very good level. They’re doing well and I think that’s a reflection of the hard work we’ve done during the week.”