Noble and West Ham prepare for Allardyce’s return

Mark Noble admits he and his West Ham teammates are relishing a re-match with former boss Sam Allardyce this weekend.

Allardyce took charge of West Ham between 2011-2015, masterminding their return to the Premier League.

Since then Allardyce has been in charge at Sunderland and had an ill-fated 67 days at the helm of English football, before taking over at Crystal Palace last month.

But Noble – whose side lost to both Manchester clubs last week – knows sentiment will have to be put to one side this weekend.

Noble added: “We have played against Sam before. Football moves on so fast and Sam will enjoy coming back.

“He had a great time here as manager and what he did for this football club getting us promoted and helping stay in the Premier League. He should be well respected.

“We have now got two big games coming up that we want to get points out of. Everyone needs to dig in and win games.”

(Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)

The Hammers were undone by Man City on Friday night at the London Stadium and Noble admits his side must put that 5-0 defeat to bed, and fast.

“We had a tough game here on Monday and the boys dug in to try and get a result against a very good Manchester United side,” he added.

“We tried to do the same again on Friday night but when we went 1-0 down it was an uphill battle for us.

“I did say a couple of weeks ago there is no point playing well and losing games. In this day and age with the pressure involved all that matters is the three points.”