Our long unbeaten run came to an end at Everton last weekend, and was followed by a second setback in quick succession at Molineux. They were both narrow losses which, on another day, could easily have ended with the Blues securing at least a point.

After the Wolves game, the players were afforded some rare time off with a longer break than usual between fixtures. That was certainly appreciated by Zouma, who has played in all but one of our league games so far, and as he looked forward to West Ham’s visit the defender also underlined the calmness and optimism within the group, despite our most recent results.

‘It’s a difficult season because there are so many games to play in a short period of time, so it was nice to switch off a little bit,’ Zouma told us.

‘But we have a big squad and we have to be ready, especially with the two last games we lost. We have to bounce back. There is no other solution, no other way. We have to win on Monday.

‘We know it will be tough,’ he continued.

‘West Ham are playing good at the minute, they have had some great results, but we have to be ready for that.

‘We are confident. We are playing at home, unfortunately there won’t be fans but let’s do our job. We will fight for the three points, that’s it.

‘There is no stress in the team, everyone is still confident, and we are going to win this game.’