West Ham’s forgotten man James Ward-Prowse has his say on comeback and role in Arsenal win

Dumped by Julen Lopetegui out on loan at Nottingham Forest where he struggled for regular action, James Ward-Prowse is back at West Ham and revitalised under new boss Graham Potter

Born-again James Ward-Prowse is still coming to terms with his second coming at West Ham but admitted: “I’ve still got a lot to prove.”

Bombed out by previous coach Julen Lopetegui and shipped out on loan to Nottingham Forest, Ward-Prowse announced his return from the City Ground with a dogged display in the Hammers’ textbook away day heist.

Having arrived at West Ham as a dead-ball specialist on the fringes of the England squad, at 30 Ward-browse suddenly finds himself cast as an old stager fighting for his place in the starting XI. But the former Southampton captain has absconded with nine points from his last seven visits to Arsenal.

And he revealed his latest hold-up of the Gunners stage coach was inspired by raw “honesty” after a string of underwhelming results.

He said: “In football things can change very quickly. I had a great time at Forest, the club has done incredibly well with a great group of lads and I’m wishing them all the best.

“But my focus now is being back here under the new manager and trying to have the biggest impact I can on this club because I still feel as though I’ve got a lot to do and a lot to prove.

“It’s not been the greatest period recently but I think you wait for a turning point, you wait for a result, a performance to spark that into life. After a good week of training and a bit of honesty around the group, I think it’s come to fruition.

“To win at Arsenal you need to have a good game plan, you need to have lads willing to do the ‘dirty’ work and you need a bit of luck. and I think we had all three of those elements and overall we deserved to win.”

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