West Ham showed their support for Andriy Yarmolenko and the people of Ukraine
(Picture: PA)Lukasz Fabianski says West Ham will continue to show support for team-mate Andriy Yarmolenko and Ukraine amid Russia’s ongoing invasion.
Yarmolenko has been given compassionate leave by West Ham during the turmoil in his homeland and missed Sunday’s 1-0 win over Wolves at London Stadium.
The Hammers showed their support for Ukraine and Yarmolenko, warming up in shirts bearing his name and posting messages on digital screens before the match. Wolves also showed solidarity by wearing training tops that said: ‘No more war’.
Fabianski, who is Polish, revealed he had been emotionally affected by the outbreak of war in Ukraine and praised the way West Ham have shown support for Yarmolenko.
“I think we have been very touched as well by the whole situation. It’s just scary, it’s a scary situation,” Fabianski told Standard Sport.
“But we try to support Andriy and his family as much as we can. It’s been very emotional for me personally as well because in some way I feel like I am very close to the situation, because we as a country try to help the Ukrainian people so much. They are so brave.
“I think the way we took the stance [before the match against Wolves], I am not saying only us but the whole football world, everyone is supporting Ukraine.
“I just hope that it is going to be resolved in a good way. We really wish Yarma all the best. We are really supporting.
“We try to help him as much as we can and I think that was a very beautiful moment today before the game. He’s got all our support and so does the whole of Ukraine.”
West Ham manager David Moyes is hopeful Yarmolenko may return to training on Monday. In his absence, the Hammers defeated Wolves thanks to Tomas Soucek’s second-half goal.
The win lifted them up to fifth place in the Premier League and they are now just two points off Manchester United in fourth.
Prior to the victory, West Ham had taken five points from as many games and Fabianski hopes this can be a turning point in their bid to qualify for the Champions League.
“We had a tricky spell where we didn’t play well but we managed to get some points,” he said. “But I think today was hopefully more like a turning point for us and we are going to get back on the right track.
“I think if you look at the history of the Premier League, it (the race for fourth) always goes to the last day of the season.
“I think what we want to do is basically stay in the mix and do our best, to give ourselves the chance to compete for the highest possible position in the table.”
