West Ham United captain Declan Rice has set his sights on a "big one" against Nottingham Forest after the Hammers fell into the Premier League relegation zone this weekend.
Results at the bottom of the table on Saturday meant that David Moyes’ side dropped to 18th place ahead of their clash against London rivals Tottenham on Sunday afternoon. Goals from Emerson Royal and Son Heung-min condemned them to a 2-0 defeat, meaning they go into next week’s game against Forest in the relegation zone.
Ahead of the game, there are five points between West Ham in 18th and Forest in 13th, following the Reds’ point against Man City in their last outing on Saturday. It’s coming to the time of the season where fans are keeping an eye on other team’s results, but Rice has said that the players are solely focused on their upcoming match against Forest.
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“There’s six or seven teams in and around us, obviously I see the results but I’m not really too worried about how other teams are doing because we’re the only ones that can change ourselves where we are,” he told Sky Sports.
“I’m not too bothered about them, I’m only bothered about us and doing what we can week-in, week-out. Now we know we’ve got a big one next week against Forest.”
On the Tottenham defeat, Rice added: “I think when you come to Spurs you know it’s always going to be tough because of the players they have got, the quality they have got. But it’s down to us, ultimately, to go on the pitch, put on a performance, try to create chances, try to score goals, try to be a threat.
“We were in it in the first half, created some really good chances, and then second half we came out and two mistakes, two goals. It’s a game we knew with the results yesterday that we had to try to get something out of, and we haven’t, and we’re gutted in there. Everyone’s down, everyone knows the position we’re in, but it’s down to us to stay positive because it’s only us that can change things around.”
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