“Everton are a great side, big club with good players”

West Ham manager, and former Everton player Slaven Bilic has admitted he is looking forward to his side playing Everotn.

Bilic: “Yes [Is facing Everton a special occasion for you?], on one hand yes, on the other no. Every game is special for different reasons. Everton are a great side, big club with good players. It’s a great test for us and I am looking forward to it, definitely yes.

Bilic also responded to questioning concerning West Ham’s disappointing record against Everton, having won just once in 17 games.

“That is a lot, it must be eight years or so. I didn’t know that to be fair, but it shows how difficult Saturday’s game will be. It’s a bit of a surprise to me but it doesn’t worry me too much because those games are in the past. It will only affect us if we allow it to, if we think about it too much then it might have an impact on confidence, but we should be able to deal with that”

The West Ham manager also acknowledged Everton will enter the match with confidence and momentum following the 6-2 victory over Sunderland.