Hammers keeper eyes improvement

Jussi Jaaskelainen believes West Ham will learn from their mistakes against Wigan and bounce back against Manchester City on Saturday.

The Finland international goalkeeper feels the Hammers did not produce the performance that the fans deserved after travelling up to Lancashire last weekend.

But he added that the system the team have been playing so far this season has been effective and their second-half performance deserves credit.

“We did not play well as individuals or as a team and we did not cope with the counter-attacking way in which Wigan played, so it is very disappointing,” Jaaskelainen told the club’s official website.

“The level of performance we have had this season has been very good and when we went system-against-system in the second half we woke up a bit and played a lot better, but it was too late.”

And, even though the Hammers have fallen behind in a number of games this season, Jaaskelainen thinks that the London outfit can spring a surprise on Manchester City even if they concede first.

“Last week against Southampton it was a similar kind of game,” he said.

“We did not turn up in the first half but we got two early goals after half-time and it gave us that little lift to go on and win the game.”

The former Bolton man spoke of his admiration for Sam Allardyce, and insisted West Ham will do well this season if they stick to their manager’s playing style.

“When I came here I knew Big Sam was a great manager and I knew he would expect me to play well if he gave me the opportunity to play,” Jaaskelainen said.

“Working with Martyn Margetson is also going very well so hopefully I can keep working hard and the results will be better than Saturday.”