Pellegrini knows Cardiff will provide a ‘difficult’ game
West Ham United manager Manuel Pellegrini has been speaking ahead of the Hammers’ trip to Cardiff City on Saturday afternoon.
As reported by BT Sport, Pellegrini was keen to make it known just how seriously he and his players will be taking the match in South Wales.
The Bluebirds sit 18th in the Premier League table, three points from safety with nine matches to play.
With Huddersfield Town and Fulham all-but relegated to the Championship, that leaves Neil Warnock’s men battling with up to five other teams to avoid filling the final spot.
In contrast, the Hammers are comfortably in mid-table and could finish as high as 7th come the end of the season.
The Chilean knows what the experience at the Cardiff City Stadium can be like having suffered a shock 3-2 defeat with Manchester City the last time he visited.
Of that match, the 65-year-old said:
I remember that, we lost from two corners. I hope that things change. That is just a statistic from last time. We need to play for 95 minutes and concentrate on every ball. It is my duty to convince the players that the position in the table of Cardiff will mean it is a more difficult game, not an easy one.They will play at home, they are fighting against relegation, they don’t have many points difference to other teams above them. So we need to play with a high pace from the beginning, be a sharp team, be an aggressive team and try to attack and win the game.
The reverse fixture finished 3-1 to the Hammers, with Josh Murphy scoring a stoppage-time consolation after a double from Lucas Perez and a Michail Antonio strike had put the Londoners firmly in control.