West Ham could only manage a 3-3 draw against Altona 93.
West Ham came through an unexpectedly tricky pre-season friendly last night against a non-league German team.
Altona 93 play in a regional division in Hamburg and held the Hammers to a 3-3 draw.
West Ham came from behind three times and saw defender Winston Reid sent off in the closing stages.
Antonio Martinez, Andre Ayew and an own goal spared the club’s blushes.
Bilic’s assistant Nikola Jurcevic moved to re-assure fans who were concerned with the sloppy performance less than a fortnight ahead of their Premier League opener against Manchester United.
He told West Ham’s official website: “I can understand the supporters as they will normally not be happy with this result,”
“We are also not happy, but this is only pre-season and many teams have different results in pre-season in England, Germany and all the big leagues.
“Sometimes some big clubs play to draws against small clubs and it is not something new in pre-season. We also played without some of our important players and I am 100 per cent sure we will be better. I can say to our supporters, don’t be worried!”
West Ham assistant coach Nikola Jurcevic
West Ham face Manchester City in a pre-season friendly later this week – who have beaten Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur in their last two friendly games.
Jurcevic added: “Friday’s game will be a very, very good test. We know how good Man City can be but our first opponent in the Premier League is also good in Man United so it will be a very good test for our team and I hope we will be good in Iceland.”
The match was notable as it marked Javier Hernandez’s debut after his recent move from Bayer Leverkusen.
He came off the bench in the second half but could not find the winner.
In the end West Ham will just be relieved their blushes were spared by the own goal which secured a draw.
Better is required, and the team will have to raise their game when they take on tougher opponents on Friday.
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