Rice ‘sick and tired’ but sees West Ham improvement

Declan Rice admits he is “sick and tired” of seeing West Ham floundering at the wrong end of the Premier League.

The Hammers have endured a tough first half of the season but are slowly turning things around after a three-game unbeaten run.

A crucial win against fellow strugglers Everton was followed by back-to-back 1-1 draws at high-flying Newcastle and, on Saturday, at home to London rivals Chelsea.

Joao Felix put the Blues ahead but Chelsea old boy Emerson Palmieri equalised and West Ham survived a late VAR handball call against Tomas Soucek to escape with a point.

“We have started to show some consistency,” Hammers skipper Rice told the club website. “It was good character shown to get the goal back. I thought the point was a fair result in the end. I didn’t think there was much in it.

“When you play against the top sides you always want to go out there and do your best, and I think we did that again.

“We played a really good game against Everton, drew at a tough place to go to Newcastle, and a point against Chelsea – we are heading in the right direction.

“I am sick and tired of looking at the table and seeing where we are. As a player it’s horrible. You are constantly worrying about other people’s results, constantly knowing you have to go out there and win, the pressure is on.

“We have been really unlucky with our defensive injuries but we have adapted well, and we still believe we have enough to push up the table.”

Felix returned from a three-match ban, following a red card on his debut against Fulham, to open his Chelsea goal account.

“Scoring my first goal for Chelsea means a lot,” he told the Blues’ website.

“It’s been a difficult start for me with the suspension meaning I was out for around a month.

“I just want to play, so to get that chance here was very nice and I just had such happiness to score for this club. Hopefully that can be the first of many.”