Nordtveit ready to kick on after ‘hard’ Hammers start

By his own admission life in the Premier League has hardly been an easy ride so far – but Havard Nordtveit insists both he and West Ham are showing shoots of growth.

The 26-year-old, who was once on the books of Arsenal, joined the Hammers on a free transfer from Borussia Monchengladbach over the summer.

But the tough-tackling midfielder has been chasing shadows more often than not this season, with West Ham struggling to tread water at the bottom of the Premier League since their much-feted move to the London Stadium.

Sunday, however, brought a performance of much promise as Slaven Bilic’s side went blow-for-blow with title-chasing Liverpool in a 2-2 draw.

(Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images)

And Nordtveit believes the result marks a turning point – both personally and for the club as a whole.

“After going down 1-0 at Anfield, it’s not easy but we bounced back and we got in at the break 2-1 up,” said the Norway international. “I felt that we got what we deserved.

“There are always things you can do better – nobody is perfect – but after a hard start at West Ham, adapting from the Bundesliga to the Premier League which has been tough, I finally now want to show the fans what I’m doing in training every day.

“I’m always positive and working hard. The group is always positive so I’m just lucky and happy to be here and hopefully now we can look forward to the next game and do the same performance at home.

“We want to be further up and hopefully it was a turning for us. We are just looking forward to the next game and hopefully we can take more points.”