We have let ourselves and the manager down but I believe we’ll get out of this

Hammers captain tells Ken Dyer how badly the club’s terrible start is hurting him

MARK NOBLE has played in more than a few mustwin matches in his 12 ye ars as a first-team player at West Ham. The latest crisis might have come a little early this season — after just three Premier League games to be precise — but that’s modern football for you. Win three and you’re a magician — lose three and you’re a mug.

The captain knows the truth lies somewhere in between but it hasn’t stopped him hurting inside since the 3-0 defeat at Newcastle two weeks ago.

Tonight, after three Premier League defeats on the road, Noble and his team-mates are back for the first time this season at the London Stadium.

The temporary seating is back in place, the West Ham branding is restored, and the World Athletics Championships are a fading memory.

Now, all that is needed — badly needed — for beleaguered manager Slaven Bilic on his 49th birthday, is a win over buoyant Premier League newcomers Huddersfield.

“It’s another ‘must-win game’ as some people see it,” admits 30-yearold Noble with just the hint of a sigh. “And to be honest, up until now, we’ve managed to get through the others okay — Spurs last season, Swansea, Burnley and Hull at home, Crystal Palace away.

“It’s been a long time since that Newcastle game.

“I’ve played more than 400 games for this club and, yes, it means more to me than most people.

“Sometimes that goes against you though. I’ve not played and done my best because I’m a home-grown player, we’ve had lots of those over the years. I’ve played all those games because I’ve been picked by a succession of managers. I’ve started every season over the past 10 years.

“That’s one of the proudest things for me but because I’m so attached to this club, I go home every day and I’m thinking, ‘I just want us to do well, I just want everyone to be happy.

“A lot of players here and at every other Premier League club, have no real affiliation with where they are.

“They lose a game, they go home and it’s still sweet because they know if something bad happens, their agents will find them another club.

“That’s not what I want. I want West Ham to do well and that’s just the way it is.

“The last place we want to be is going into tonight’s game with the pressure already firmly on — it’s not ideal but we do need to get a result.

“We need to be on our game right from the start because Huddersfield haven’t conceded a goal yet in three games.

“That sort of start comes from hard work and adrenalin following their promotion and they will come to our stadium tonight and think — ‘this is amazing, what a place in which to play football’ — so we need to be prepared.”

Noble understands how it works and knows that the focus will be sharpest tonight on his manager Bilic, in the final year of his contract at West Ham.

“It was as low as I’ve seen the manager after the Newcastle match. We were all pretty low and it was a feeling that we had not only let ourselves down