Martinez's post-West Ham United reaction

Roberto Martinez reflected on a disappointing afternoon at Upton Park and how his side struggled to impose themselves on the home team.

The Gaffer was particularly upset at the manner in which his team conceded three 'cheap' goals and made it difficult for themselves to find a response.

He said: "It was a very disappointing afternoon. Nothing went our way and we paid for that.

"I don't think we started the game with our normal energy levels and purpose, and in a game that we all knew was hugely important and significant, we allowed ourselves to be open at the back.

"The three goals we conceded were very cheap, especially the first one, and that was always going to have a big say on the match.

"We couldn't create many problems for them, but there wasn't anything in the game before they scored and that is a real disappointment.

"When you're not playing at your best, you're risking the opposition taking advantage of that which they did.

"The second half was much the same, and the two goals were very self-inflicted. We put ourselves into situations where we allowed the opposition to score simple goals, and that is very disappointing."

Although Latics were without five regular starters the Gaffer believes the team should still have been strong enough to compete and did manage to carve out one positive, a fine goal from Tom Cleverley:

"Even after going 3-0 down, we scored a very good goal and we had another disallowed at the end that shouldn't have been disallowed.

"We were missing five players but I felt we could have coped a little bit better, and there are many things that we must improve.

"Tom's goal was a great finish. He showed great technique, and he was again very influential in the game.

"The first goal gave West Ham something to hold on to and something to fight for, and we made things difficult for ourselves."

Article continues
Advertisement