West Ham vs Chelsea: Aaron Cresswell says he has been waiting for this game for the past three months

EXCLUSIVE
Full-back relishing chance of London Stadium debut following injury
James Griffiths/West Ham United via Getty Images
Ken Dyer26 October 2016

When you have missed just one game in the past two seasons, it is tempting to begin to believe you are indestructible.

Aaron Cresswell is too sensible to fall for that, though, and sure enough, his luck finally ran out on a sultry July evening in Austria.

West Ham were 3-0 ahead with less than 10 minutes left in a pre-season friendly against Karlsruher when Grischa Promel launched himself into a reckless challenge on Cresswell.

The West Ham full-back stayed down, clutching his left knee in obvious distress while some of his furious team-mates confronted Promel.

Cresswell limped off, thinking that he would need a few days to recover.

Instead, exactly three months to the day after that serious knee ligament injury, the defender is at last ready to make a belated London Stadium debut, in tonight’s EFL Cup tie against Chelsea.

The 26-year-old left-back made his comeback at Crystal Palace 11 days ago, laying on the winner for Manuel Lanzini before being ludicrously sent off in the second half for two yellow cards within a minute.

Tonight, though, Cresswell should have his first taste of playing in West Ham’s new home — and, frankly, he cannot wait.

“I was a bit gutted because the injury occurred in pre-season and, having played the final game at the Boleyn Ground, I really wanted to play the first match at the London Stadium,” he said.

“I’ve been waiting for this game for the past three months.

“It will be tough. Chelsea were excellent against Manchester United on Sunday but, from my point of view, to finally step across that white line and onto the London Stadium pitch will be fantastic.

“Since I started as a 17-year-old at Tranmere, I hadn’t experienced a setback like this but it has made me a stronger player.

“Most players suffer injuries at some stage or another. It’s just one of those things. You can do nothing about but it has made me stronger mentally in terms of being prepared for and overcoming problems.

“I didn’t know what to expect when it happened. I didn’t think it was that bad at the time. I can remember standing up and thinking the knee was a bit sore before I limped off.

“That night, though, my knee and foot swelled up and I realised I was in trouble.

“We flew home from Austria the following day, I had a scan and it was then I was told it would be at least three months.”

Cresswell’s anticipated return tonight is a welcome fillip for manager Slaven Bilic. The former Ipswich player’s name was mentioned more than once when England squads were being picked last season. “It’s every player’s ambition to play for their national side and I hope it can happen one day. The main thing for me over the past few weeks, though, was to get back fit and healthy and the knee right again.

“I owe a lot to the medical staff here at the club. I can’t thank them enough.

“My focus now is to give 100 per cent to West Ham week in and week out. Hopefully, the results will keep picking up, we will be better as a team and I will be better as a player. Then, if the chance comes to be involved in the national team, I will be ready.”

International selection will be a long way from Cresswell’s thoughts tonight, though. He knows that beating Chelsea would really ignite West Ham’s stuttering season. Until two weeks ago, the Hammers had won only once in the Premier League but victories against Crystal Palace and Sunderland have edged them up to 15th in the table. “We’ve had a slow start but in recent weeks we’ve turned it around and it was a massive win over Sunderland last Saturday,” he said.

“The main thing, though, is that everyone, the gaffer, the players, are fully committed to the cause and we want to put it right.

“We’ve picked up seven points from the last three League games. We know we have a tough cup tie tonight but we’re all looking forward to it.”

Chelsea vs West Ham: In Pictures

1/40

Cresswell could be in direct opposition to a rejuvenated Victor Moses, who spent last season on loan at West Ham.

“Vic looks as though he has found a new lease of life under Antonio Conte,” said the Liverpool-born defender. “We know what he’s capable of but we will do our level-best to try to stop him if he plays.”

Cresswell, like his team-mates, is aware of the heightened security around this first major London derby at the stadium.

He said: “We can’t focus on that. Our job is to play as well as we can on the pitch and leave things like that to the club. Hopefully, everything will be sorted.

“It’s going to take a lot to beat that last game at the Boleyn, against Manchester United [West Ham won 3-2] but this is the first proper London derby. I’m sure the fans are looking forward to it.

“I know we are.”

You can follow the match live tonight on Standard Sport. Click here for more information.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in