Bilic confident West Ham will bounce back

West Ham manager Slaven Bilic believes his side have the resolve to take the positives out of Thursday’s UEFA Europa League exit and enjoy a strong Premier League campaign.

Bilic’s side were dumped out of Europe by Romanian club Astra Giurgiu in the Europa League’s third qualifying round 4-3 on aggregate after a Constantin Budescu brace secured a 2-1 win in Romania.

Ill-discipline was a theme through West Ham’s brief sojourn into Europe this term, three players were dismissed in six games, with Bilic himself also banished from the touchline in the home leg against Astra.

But the former West Ham defender has seen enough from a string of experimental sides to take faith into their domestic campaign, which starts at Arsenal on Sunday.

He said: “We had a good game and started well when we scored the goal.

“It was a shame that we conceded a cheap goal because until that moment we were controlling the game and I was expecting to us score another one because Astra looked really nervous and started to panic.

“But we conceded that goal and then another one. Obviously we are disappointed to have gone out. 

“We had some youngsters in the team but mostly they were players we will count on.

“It is a good experience for a few of the youngsters but some of the guys who played tonight showed us they are going to be very useful.

“We have a big season ahead of us which starts on Sunday and we are going to be good in the Premier League. I am very confident about that.”