West Ham winger Robert Snodgrass had a very optimistic take on the club’s 5-0 defeat to Manchester City at the weekend. The 31-year-old is hoping that the heavy loss helps to focus minds for the rest of the season.

The Hammers have been conceding goals throughout pre-season and those defensive lapses continued into the first match of the campaign. Snodgrass says manager Manuel Pellegrini wants the team to tighten up at the back:

“If anything, it is sometimes the best thing that can happen because you need to get back to the drawing board and realise what this Premier League is all about. We were conceding goals through the pre-season as well.”

“The manager has touched on it, saying we cannot keep conceding goals. We never helped ourselves at stages [against Man City], gifting them a couple of goals, but it is the start of the season and we must get ourselves ready for the next game.”

It will be interesting to see whether West Ham take a less expansive approach when they travel to face Brighton on Saturday. Graham Potter’s side will be in confident mood after their 3-0 away win against Watford.

Even so, the Irons will be confident that they have the attacking quality to hurt the Seagulls. Last season, they succumbed to a 1-0 defeat at the Amex, but with new additions such as Pablo Fornals and Sebastien Haller, they will be hoping for a better result.