HAMMERS STAR BOWEN READY TO USE SALAH AS INSPIRATION

JARROD BOWEN is using Mohamed Salah as his inspiration as he targets more goals and assists for West Ham next season.

Liverpool star Salah lifted the PFA Player of the Year award, seeing off Kevin De Bruyne, Cristiano Ronaldo and Harry Kane, with a superb 23 goals in the League and 14 assists.

Bowen goes off on holiday this summer having scored 12 Premier League goals and provided 10 assists over the past campaign to force himself into Gareth Southgate’s World Cup plans.

The Hammers are targeting the top-four next season and Bowen knows he will have to improve even further if they are to do so and is using Salah’s consistency as his blueprint.

“The goals he scores when he gets a chance, nine times out of 10 it’s in the back of the net,” said Bowen. “When we played against Liverpool, I wasn’t watching him when I was playing because that would be wrong to say, but I noticed the work he does off the ball as well. “The numbers he puts in year in, year out... it’s about setting targets and looking at players that are at the top level and for me, for my development, to get to that level. Looking at them, putting the numbers in that they do.” Forward Bowen scored goals against Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea and Leicester to underline his quality. He managed two assists in a match on three separate occasions, including against Premier League runners-up Liverpool in November.

He also set-up a couple against relegated pair Norwich and Watford, and won a penalty in both games. But Bowen, 25, knows that he will also have to put the Premier League’s lesser lights to the sword in order to achieve the numbers of the top-flight’s serial thrillers. “Consistency is a big word,” he added. “Especially in the attacking position. People expect you to produce goals or set-up goals for your team-mates, and that comes with being an attacker. So, scoring goals definitely helps with confidence, but I feel like when you’re confident or at the top of your game, consistency’s not a problem. “You expect it of yourself and you set those standards of ‘I wanna score in this game’ or ‘I wanna be involved in a goal in this game’. “So, I think it just comes from standards within yourself that you set.”