Mikel Arteta felt we didn’t reach the necessary standards as we fell to defeat against West Ham United.
Jarrod Bowen struck a couple of minutes before half-time to condemn us to defeat, which was made harder to achieve when Myles Lewis-Skelly was dismissed for the denial of a goalscoring opportunity.
Then followed a late rally as we attempted to salvage something from the afternoon, but ultimately our unbeaten home league record was ended by the Hammers.
“First of all, congratulations to West Ham for the victory. We’re very disappointed with the result and as well the performance for the last period of the game because we really wanted it and showed that we really wanted it, and it becomes really difficult with 10 men.
“Today, we were not at the levels and standards that we have to hit to be much better than the opposition.”
The good thing about football is that there’s always a game just around the corner, and next up is a trip to Nottingham Forest and another three points on offer.
Mikel admits there is plenty for him and his coaching staff to evaluate ahead of that game as they aim to return us to winning ways against the side directly below us in the table.
“We have to go through the pain of defeat and a big part of the performance as well,” the boss added. “That’s what we’re going to need on Wednesday, to put in a different performance and win the game.
“Let’s go through the pain; let’s analyse, look at ourselves in the mirror and on Monday we go again.”
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