Hammers face Belgian side Gent in the Europa Conference League quarter-finals this evening (kick-off 8pm), with the tie delicately poised after West Ham were held to a 1-1 draw away on the continent last week. David Moyes rested numerous players for the trip to Belgium with a view of playing a stronger team in their clash with league leaders Arsenal, the decision paying off as the Hammers came from 2-0 behind to draw 2-2 with the Gunners on Sunday. Cherries host West Ham on Sunday at the Vitality Stadium, with kick-off at 2pm. Discussing West Ham’s game with Gent,
Gary O’Neil shared: “It’s a home game for them, it’s a chance for them to win a big game in front of their fans. They had a good performance in front of their home fans on Sunday, against Arsenal. They’ve got world class players that are used to playing in big games. This will be a big game for them come Sunday, so I’ll be very surprised if West Ham turn up here anything less than 100 per cent full throttle, ready to go because it’s obviously a very important game for them as well as it is us. So I don’t see us having any advantage over that. I think our real focus is on arriving on Sunday in the best shape we can possibly be and try and ask West Ham as many questions as possible.”
