Bilic expecting City response

Slaven Bilic is wary of a Manchester City backlash when his West Ham side visit the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.

City have started the new Premier League season in blistering form, claiming five wins from five games, but Manuel Pellegrini’s men were brought back down to earth in the Champions League on Tuesday, surrendering a 1-0 lead in a 2-1 defeat to Juventus.

West Ham registered their first home win of the season with a comfortable 2-0 win over Newcastle United on Monday, taking the London club up to fifth.

However, when asked about the challenge of facing City on Thursday, Bilic said: “Man City didn’t deserve to lose that game, [as a] minimum they deserved a point, but Juventus scored two great goals.

“Man City will feel they need a response after Juventus, but that won’t affect their confidence. They played okay against Juventus.”

Angelo Ogbonna suffered a hamstring injury against Newcastle and was expected to be out for three weeks, but Bilic was more positive on the defender’s outlook.

“Unfortunately Angelo Ogbonna is out for a week or two weeks with his hamstring,” he added.

“Pedro Obiang got a knock on his ankle on Monday but it’s nothing major and he should train today.”