Angelo Ogbonna: West Ham are as tough as Juventus

Tough cookies: Ogbonna has praised the Hammers' resilience
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Sam Long7 January 2016

Angelo Ogbonna believes West Ham have matched the mentality and resilience of Juventus during the east Londoners' recent injury crisis.

Slaven Bilic's side have enjoyed an impressive start to the season and currently occupy sixth place in the table - just four points adrift of the top four.

The Hammers' form - which included a disappointing run of five successive draws - has been achieved without the services of several key players and the defender has been impressed with the manner in which Slaven Bilic's side have coped with setbacks this term.

“We have had a bad period because Manuel Lanzini, Dimitri Payet, Enner Valencia, Victor Moses and Diafra Sakho have been injured," he told the Sun.

“But we changed our system really quickly. Also our tactics. It’s not been easy but in that period we have only lost once in eight.

“Do I recognise this mentality and resilience from Juventus? Yes I do.

“We have a lot of character to change, to suffer, to maintain our temperament,” Ogbonna insisted.

The central defender won two Serie A titles with Juventus before his summer move to Upton Park but has no regrets about his decision to swap Turin for east London.

West Ham are expected to compete for a place in Europe during the second half of the season and Ogbonna has not ruled out a top-four finish ahead of the club's move to the Olympic Stadium.

“When I came from Juventus I felt there was an opportunity for me and the club. I knew the coach and the quality of the players.

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“Can we finish in the top four? Why not?

“We have to take care of ourselves and focus on what we want to do. We will see at the end of the season.”

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